


We Are A Dying Breed

by calatheil, ofhuntersandhobbits



Series: We are the immortals you forgot [2]
Category: The Lord of the Rings - All Media Types, The Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Alien Character(s), Angst, Cute Legolas, F/M, Gen, Mean Girl, New Race, Not a Mary Sue, Orphan - Freeform, Poor Boromir, Sarcasm, Tenth Walker, Tragedy/Comedy, alternative universe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-23
Updated: 2015-08-13
Packaged: 2018-02-26 19:05:58
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 44
Words: 123,632
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2662970
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/calatheil/pseuds/calatheil, https://archiveofourown.org/users/ofhuntersandhobbits/pseuds/ofhuntersandhobbits
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>We are a dying kind, the Naira. Exiled from our lands. We will send one of our own to follow the ring and and return to our lands beyond the shores. She will be our champion and our slave but she does not know it yet. Her heart and mind are not the same and she has many scars; not all visible to see. Will you hear her tale or will you deny us our story? (Tenth walker Legolas/OC)</p><p>Rated Explicit for one chapter</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Daugther Of An Empire

** We Are A Dying Breed **

Contains some scenes of torture and self harm

* * *

 

_We are a dying breed. Our lands are far away. Magic and mystery were once our friends but we have left them for the sword. Look at our eyes. Do you see how they change as we do? Do you know the power of forever as we do? Can you send us home to the lands that bore us, our poor war-torn home? Can you heal our scars and bring back our families or will you banish us? Us who fight against Eru and Melkor. Us who have toiled long under sun and shade. Us who have forsaken all emotion to hide our scars. Can you rid us of our scars? Or will you frown upon us as a dying flame as all others do. Will you call us hateful and cruel? Will you run from us when you see our fangs, our wings or our changing form? Middle Earth is not our home. We have been sent to it from our beloved Termoree to face crimes of betrayal against the one who made us, who tore our lives apart. We are the broken race, the dying kind. Will you hear our story? Or will you turn away._

She sighed; the cold dark seeping through the cracks was penetrating her soul. The sound of her screams still echoed round the cold cell in which she was held. Damn Glorfindel and all the elves of Rivendell, if he had not said the words "I bet" she would not be here in the darkest place in Middle Earth, in the hardest place to get out of: the tower of Barad Dur. The sound of footfall echoed against the dank tunnels, an Orc guard, whom she did not know the name of, glared in through the bars, before unlocking it. Eruanna shrank against the damp wall.

"Come on my pretty, the boss wants to question you, again" the Orc cooed, grabbing her wrist, he dragged her down the winding passage she had become familiar with over the last year as her mind went back to Glorfindel's bet.

* * *

 

The sun was high in the clear blue of the sky when the scouting party returned. Glorfindel had dismounted his horse wearily and gone to report to Elrond. Eruanna turned her gaze back to the target, engrossed in her training. She raised the bow and tried to aim it towards the target. The arrow missed and embedded itself in the tree nearby. She tried again, frustrated that she could not learn to shoot.

"If you held the bow vertically instead of how you're holding it now you will be able to pull the sting back further and find your aim, not to mention it will lessen the damage to your hands," Glorfindel called out from the top of the steps.

She sighed in irritation, what did he know about archery?

"Here," he said, turning the bow the right way round and helping her position it. She drew back the arrow and released it but still missed.

"Clearly you are not as knowledgeable of this as you would like to believe," Eruanna remarked.

"I know how to use a bow. I have killed many an Orc in my time with a bow. Why I bet you could not even kill one," he retorted.

"I could kill every Orc in Mordor," Eruanna muttered coldly, feeling her pride shrink inside her.

"I bet you couldn't even kill fifteen," he taunted.

"Really? I think I will have to prove you wrong," she snapped. "Fetch me a horse," she demanded of the young squire nearby.

It dawned on Glorfindel then that he had gone too far. "Eruanna, I do not doubt your skill in battle, you need not prove it," he said backtracking rapidly.

"You have insulted my honor, I must put it right," she answered simply stalking off to find where the squire had gotten to.

* * *

 

For days she had ridden over hills and fields heading east towards the darkening skyline. She had found the concealed entrance to the tunnels under the black gate and had slipped through with ease. Long ago when the enemy of all people had built the black gate, her people had built ways into Mordor to escape should their battles with mordor go ill. It was easy to find Orcs for it seemed they were growing in numbers in these tunnels and she dispatched the first five with ease, unsheathing her long sword and beheading two in one fast swing. Another ran towards her, at the last moment she dodged it and brought her blade across his back. She kicked one Orc across the passage and he went flying back, whether because of shock or a broken neck he just stayed where he had fallen. The last Orc was tall and sported a Gondorian sword, evidently won in a skirmish, he swung for her head but with a single move she dropped to her knees and pushed her sword up inside his rib cage.

Then an alarm was sounded and she found herself facing a small army. "Come on then I don't bite...hard," Eruanna teased. They had thrown themselves at her and she had fought with all her might but her body was tired from the long days traveling and was soon overpowered. She had been thrown in a dungeon and left there for the rats.

The Orc stopped, opened the slimy green door which she knew as the mouth of torment and two other Orcs grabbed her. Eruanna screamed in defiance, snarling at one of the laughing Orcs who abruptly stopped his cackle. Smirking she felt the cold, harsh irons clamp on her wrists and ankles. Then the Orcs began to sing in their foul tongue but Eruanna knew what it meant, closing her eyes she prayed to all the Valar, Elves, Men and Dwarves for it to stop, but she knew it wouldn't.

"Boil her, fry her, sizzle her, Scald her, burn her, make a blaze and hear her scream. Tear her, Bleed her, Rake her dry Twist her, turn her, till she cry and make her scream, oh yes make her scream."

She gritted her teeth as a whip came down across her back, tearing into her skin. She would not scream, she couldn't. The whip came down again and pain flared across her back and down her legs.

"Tell us what you know," ordered the Orc.

"I will never tell you anything," Eruanna spat as the whip came down once more.

"Burn her," the Orc demanded. Out of the corner of the eyes she saw them melting iron into a small dish. The guards brought it over, "You know what this is don't you?" he hissed, dropping the liquid metal onto her skin.

She let out a groan of pain and the Orc began to tip more over the backs of her legs. She screamed in agony and the Orcs laughed as they melted more iron. They forced her mouth open and poured the burning solution down her throat. She tried spitting it out but they gagged her as it seared her insides. They forced her onto a rack and pulled at her limbs. She could not speak so they gave up asking but continued the torture for some time till they grew bored and dropped her back in her cell. She knew in a few days time they would be back when her throat had healed and her captors had finished with the other prisoners. Pressing herself against the cold wall in an attempt to soothe her burns she felt the bricks crumble. She turned around and dragged her nails down the stone, watching as more of the wall came away. Mustering up her strength she threw herself against the wall. The brick moved a few inches. She pushed again over and over until it finally gave way sending her sprawling into a narrow corridor.

She grinned into the dimly lit passageway until she heard harsh voices, she searched frantically for a hiding place. A goblin-sized door presented itself and Eruanna quickly opened it. It was a small room filled with discarded armor and weapons that had been confiscated from the prisoners. A small goblin barged in but before he had the chance to shout she wrung his neck.

She found her weaponry and armor discarded in a heap and donned it quickly before creeping her way out of the room. She was much nearer the surface than she had thought and it seemed the guards where lacking in their duties and where brawling with one another over a piece of meat, such disregard for duty in the naira army was punishable by death but she did not complain.

"Poor sods," Eruanna thought, seeing the disemboweled dwarf lying in the corner of the room and several more shivering in fear. If they had been her one of her kind she would have gone in to aid them but they were such a lowly race that she cared little for their fate.

The fresh air was a welcoming feeling and she breathed it in relishing the sweetness of it. She headed away from the tower, wrapped in black from head to toe as the nazguls did. It was a petty disguise but most of the Orcs where fooled and those that questioned it met their doom. Once reaching a disused track she ran, her ankles burned with pain, her muscles ached, her skin bled from the welts on her arm but she was free. Laughing, she sat down; the Orcs would not follow her now. Tearing strips from her dress, to make bandages, she thought about her escape, it had been laughably easy. Leaning against the boulder she smiled, it was time to find a village that would have a Naira. Maybe she should go to Rivendell, first she'd go there, tell Elrond of the movement in Mordor, and then find her the Matis clan. It was strange to know that she was the last of her house, her living siblings having disowned the title. Once there where so many other Naira but now their once great race's blood was mixed with that of mortals and they were so easy to kill.

Sighing, Eruanna stood, clicked her fingers and the silver glimmer of magic transformed her torn and bloodied clothing before screaming across the wasteland: "I'm free, free, no oath or bond may ever hold me," but as she said these words she knew it would not be for long. The world would always be punishing her for her faults.

The road to Rivendell was far too tiresome for her to make it in the time she had hoped. Eruanna rested by a stream, snacking on the fish she had managed to catch. After some days walking, the lands began to change into thick green meadows than after some more days the misty mountains grew ever closer. By the time she had reach Rivendell, Eruanna was utterly exhausted, her body had been pushed to its limits. They welcomed her back with open arms and told her strange tales of what had happened in her absence. She was then told to be expected at a council in two days' time but she was too wary to ask why. She decided it better to wait to find out.

** Glorfindel **

It was late in the day when Glorfindel plucked up the courage to visit her. When he did he found her lolling in a bath, the water a deep shade of orange that was turning redder by the second. There was a knife at the side of the tub along with a large bottle of strong ale. She was gazing intently at her wrists which oozed a sticky red liquid. When she saw him she hid them below the water, smiling innocently. He lowered his eyes and she giggled.

"You needn't do that, we have fought together, I think you have seen far too much of me already. If you want to make it up to me you can start by changing this water, it's utterly filthy" she giggled, taking a large swig of from the bottle and waving one leg in the air.

"Ay, you're drunk" he thought to himself and he poured some fresh water into the bath for her. He saw the knife and kicked it out-of-the-way, her habits and strange fascination with causing herself pain unnerved him and it was unnatural for such practices among his kind but among hers he did not know. Yet it was not something he wished to witness.

She scowled at him and took another swig of her drink as he attempted to scrub some of the filth off her. "You always look so handsome when you frown" she mused out loud before a giggle escaped her.

"And you always look so disgusting when you come back of one of your adventures" he retorted. He had no desire for her anymore. There had been a short period where he had followed her round like a lost puppy but she had treated him with such cold indifference that he had lost all interest in her. She took another swig of the drink and hiccupped mournfully.

"You cannot keep drinking that, you are to meet the guests shortly and you are in no fit state to do so," Glorfindel complained.

"Tell them I am a princess and I do things in my own time," she muttered gulping down more ale.

"Ay, you are an insolent child," he said testily, his patience was wearing thin.

"I don't want to be a princess. They always meet grisly ends," she blurted.

Glorfindel snorted, "You don't want a life that so many crave?"

She shook her head, sipping the drink slowly. "It's so boring and I always feel so trapped. I want a life where I am equal to everyone else," she sighed.

He smiled sympathetically before she splashed him, the water soaking and staining his white tunic. "I shall have to tell Elrond that you are otherwise engaged. You cannot be presenting yourself in such a state," he decided for her. "From what I hear the council will last all day. You shall be able to get to know them then," he told her, handing the towel to her and averting his eyes as she bundled herself into it. He waited till she was getting dressed before explaining what the council was about.

"It all sounds so dreadfully boring," she said from behind the clothing screen.

"Yes, but it is important you turn up and you turn up sober for once," He answered, picking up her bottle.

Her head appeared over the top of the screen. "What do you mean for once?" she slurred.

"You know full well what I mean," he answered curtly. She sauntered out from behind the parting and headed for the door before he turned her around in the direction of her bed. Once he saw that she as settled he went off to give Elrond the news of her return, and to hide the bottle somewhere Eruanna would not find it.


	2. The Council Of Morons

Eruanna sat humming in front of the mirror in an attempt to fix her hair into the headdress she had decided to wear. She then bandaged her wrists to hide the wounds she had from prying eyes and stood up. She took one step and fell over the hem of the dress. Elrond had told her that she was to look presentable and she had tried her best, alas she could not even walk in the gown she had been lent by Arwen. Glorfindel knocked on the door and slipped into the room.

"Not a word," Eruanna hissed as she saw the smug expression on his face as she fell over for the second time.

"Perhaps it would be wise to hold up the edge of your gown?" he asked graciously.

Eruanna glowered at him before lifting the skirt up and stalking out of the room. They arrived early and Eruanna slunk into the shadows by Glorfindel so as to get a better view of the other members of the council without having any notice taken of her. Soon the chamber began filling up with all kinds of people. She watched in interest and studied each face with great delight.

 _Drunkard. Fool. Prissy. Nobleman._ Men were as easy to read as a book yet like so many books written they lacked much substance. _Wealthy. Lord. Proud. Squire_. Dwarves were intriguing creatures and where far more interesting to observe and where a challenge to read though she thought it due to facial hair. _New comer. Afraid. Strong._ The halfling was far from easy to read and like the elves was clouded in mystery but unlike the elves it made her uneasy that she could not understand him.

"I have never met a woman who could defeat her own reflection let alone an orc." joked one man. Rage seethed through her and she felt a hand grip her shoulder firmly as she slunk forward in a crouch ready to strike. She looked up to see Glorfindel looking at the man with disdain, he looked at her.

"There is a time and a place for violence," he said coolly before removing his grip on her shoulder.

As the sun rose higher, the council was well under way. Eruanna scowled indignantly the shadows hiding her from sight, still fuming from Boromir's earlier insult about female warriors being stupid. The man was now going on about how the ring of power would help Gondor. If only he had seen the destruction of her own lands, then he would see the power and malice that the ring truly possessed. She wondered whether to let him carry on his speech or let spite win out and put him to shame. Eruanna lent on a cool stone pillar; resting her head on the stone. Sensing Glorfindel looking up at her from his chair, she glanced at her friend and yawned loudly, he pulled a funny face to make her laugh, she grinned at him and pulled one back. He tried, unsuccessfully to stifle a laugh and Boromir frowned at him.

"Gelir na thaed." he whispered, and turned back to the ever boring meeting. Eruanna looked round at the faces of those present, there were a few Elves she knew and dwarfs of which she hoped she never would have to see again. Men from all of Middle Earth and hobbits from the Shire, they were small and odd-looking but Eruanna thought worthy of her time. Then she heard him, the young wood elf that all the elf maids of Imladris had been talking about, but she knew that voice from her past, and it was woven into so many youthful adventures. Straining to see his face more clearly, even with her good eyesight it was hard to make him out as Glorfindel was sitting in the way. Just as she had given up on deciding who he was, she heard his name.

"Legolas, sit down," came Aragorn's soft voice. Eruanna jumped.

"Legolas? Legolas Greenleaf, son of Thranduil, it cannot be," she whispered to herself, peering round Glorfindel's thighs. She saw his face,

"It is him and all grown up, I see why the elf maids do love him so," she thought, remembering him, sitting on the grass outside his palace, with her sitting beside him, talking about myths and magic. Her thoughts were interrupted by Boromir, who once again had taken center stage.

"I see no Naira here my lord Elrond. The supposed best warriors in this world cower behind their walls and it is my people's blood that is split by them when we try to protect them, they who would harm our children despite all we do for them."

Slowly Eruanna stepped out of the shadows, summoning her magic so that the dress transformed into the dark armor of a nairan princess of old, before she her shoulders venomously. "That is because you are not worth the dirt on our shoes. We protect our own, not the species of lesser creatures, and you are but dinner to us."

Boromir snorted angrily, "Yet you are all very willing to aid the elves."

"That would be because they use their heads rather than their cocks, besides, they do not stick knives in our guts without reason and sell our bones for profit."

Boromir reached for his sword and she disarmed him with a flick of her wrist, a surge of magic ripping it from his grip. She grabbed his wrist and flipped him onto his back; the man sprawled out across the floor grunting in mild pain as she dug her knee into his spine.

"The Narian empire cares not for your _pathetic_ life. There is a bigger picture to be had, if the enemy gets the ring then we will go to him once more. We value our lives far too much to oppose the enemy with that ring in his possession but until such a day occurs we will do everything in our power to not become slaves again.That ring should be given to my uncle to be destroyed, or someone else should do it. " Eruanna hissed softly, releasing her grip before dusting herself off.

"You do not belong in this world. You belong in a pit so dark that no light is ever seen." Boromir spat angrily, smoothing his clothing before taking a seat.

"That is true... I wonder why we weren't put there, I think it had something to do with protecting our lands from Sauron... but they got burned anyway so we made ourselves very comfy on yours instead..." she answered cold, "if that ring is not destroyed and Gondor takes it, I shall prize it from the cold lifeless body of the man who keeps it myself, but not until i have murdered everyone they love before their eyes, not until my brothers have raped the daughters of Gondor and seen its sons slain."

The noble flinched unwittingly and her quick eyes took note, the man had a weak spot she could use. Behind her she could feel the cool gaze of someone she knew all too well, she turned her head slightly, daring to peek out of the corner of her eye. There was an odd smile playing across the son of Thranduil's lips, as though he was remembering something she had long forgotten.

"Eruanna, that's enough, sit down and calm yourself." Elrond interrupted, she scowled darkly at him but obeyed. She let her eyes settle on the ring, its call did not affect her as it did the others. There was nothing it could give her that she could possibly want, she had everything and that which she didn't she could just take by right of birth. Letting her mind focus on the debates, she realized that the dwarf, Gimli, was yelling at Legolas, Eruanna felt a flash of rage flare through her, he was insulting not only one, but every elf in Middle Earth, they were not her own kin but they had once showed her a kindness that couldn't be repaid easily.

To those who did not know her well, her reaction was startling;  Eruanna produced a knife from her sleeve and pinned Gimli to his seat with his beard. Glorfindel stood to stop her from laying her hands upon his throat. The rest of the elves stood up to shout more insults at the dwarves and the men took it upon themselves to get involved. Eruanna stepped back into the shadows and watched the fight unfold, watching the ring with interset and wondering if it was the opportune moment to steal it so that the race of men didn't try to unleash the power it contained. She then noticed the hobbit, Frodo, standing up, and trying to speak and for a moment wondered at him with something close to awe.

"I will take it," he called, Eruanna raised an eyebrow, a feeling of amusement and slight admiration fleeting through her before she steeled herself and ignored it. A halfling with no battle experence would not make it far yet she felt compelled to let him try.

"Quiet!" Eruanna bellowed, making herself dizzy with the effort of raising her voice to such a high volume, "I want to hear what the halfling has to say. You're making that very difficult with such pathetic squabbles." There was absolute silence and some frightened looks in her direction before Frodo reluctantly spoke out once more.

"I will take it, I will take the ring to Mordor, though I do not know the way," one by one, Eruanna watched others offer their help to the hobbit, considering whether to kill everyone and make of with the ring before a better idea formed.

"There are tunnels around that place that my people created... If you will accept my help, I can show you and if we do not make it that far, then at least you stand a chance. I know more of this world than most; I do not doubt the rest of your new companions valor and determination, only that they may not resist evils call. You will need me then if you cannot kill them when they turn on you." The words slipped out of her lips before she could stop them, everyone turned to stare.

"No, Eruanna you will not do such thing, I forbid you." Elrond's voice broke the stunned silence. Eruanna looked at him.

"Then I shall just follow them to Mordor and throw them in the fires with it." Eruanna hissed, "I'm not letting a man of Gondor follow the ring without it having someone to protect it, he isas likely to kill Frodo for it as I am."

"Very well,I cannot argue, you shall go to Mordor," Elrond said reluctantly.

Then out of the bushes three hobbits came "And you shan't be leaving us behind!" said one. "You would have to tie us in a sack to stop us!" said the others in unison.

"Then it is settled, you shall be the fellowship of the ring," Elrond announced, his head held high in grim determination.

* * *

 

The gardens of Imladris where at night peaceful and Eruanna wandered round them in relative contentment. There was the sound of an owl in the distance and the whir of crickets in the longer grasses. Ordinarily on such a night she would be joining in with the celebrations and taking advantage of the excellent wine but the guests were less than friendly and had driven her to walk the moonlit paths of the valley. It was then she saw Elrond standing on a nearby bridge examining her with acute precision as a healer does a sick child. At first she attempted to ignore his presence but at length she chose to join him.

"I see you are not enjoying the comforts that wine brings you tonight," Elrond examined as she stepped up beside him.

"I dislike dwarves. One experience of their table manners has put me off for life," Eruanna explained callously.

"Yet you have chosen to spend a journey with one," Elrond said amused. She glared at him before gazing out over the silver streams.

"I do not recommend you to go on this venture Eruanna. You do not get on well with others and I fear you will not cope with taking orders from men or even dwarves," he advised calmly.

"If I do not go my soul will be damned to an eternity of banishment from those I hold dear, along with all of those who sailed across the sea to these lands," Eruanna replied sadly.

"Glorfindel told me of your relapse," he said after a moment.

"It was a moments weakness. It will not happen again, I am certain," she mumbled gazing up at the moon.

"What troubles you young one?" he asked gently.

"Memories trouble me. So many dark memories," she answered after a short pause.

"It is not the only thing playing on your mind. You can hide your emotions well Eruanna, too well, but you cannot hide ones you are unaccustomed to. I believe affection is one you struggle with," Elrond answered.

"I don't know what you are talking about," she snapped, a little too fast for the half-elf caught the apprehensive look that flashed momentarily on her face.

"What connection do you have with Thranduil's son?" he inquired.

"We played together as children and I grew up in Mirkwood as part of a security measure so that my father would not break his side of a treaty," she told him.

"Where you close?" She looked at him scrupulously before nodding.

"For a time, though I do not see any recognition of that friendship when he looks at me now," she confessed.

"For the sake of this quest I will give you one piece of advice: make every effort to rekindle this friendship. You may find you need him before this is all over," he said calmly, turning to walk away.

"I don't need anyone!" she called after him.

"That's what I'm afraid of." she heard him mutter as he vanished back up to the celebrations once more


	3. Old Friends and New Rivals

Eruanna watched Legolas for a long time, considering her options.

"He does not remember me, but I remember him," she said, turning to Glorfindel. Glorfindel seemed to be spending more and more time with her. She had decided that he felt guilty about what he'd put her through but she had already forgiven her friend. Eruanna smiled but her smile faded on seeing Glorfindel's face, he was looking at her wrist. He had a sickening look of horror on his kind face. Eruanna looked down, and cursed herself for not remembering to bind them. Her wrist was red and raw from where the irons had held her, the gash was pretty deep, but was healing, but it coiled her wrist like a gory bracelet.

"Glorfindel," Eruanna's started to explain but Glorfindel cut her off.

"Who did this to you?" The elf took her wrist, and inspected it.

"The orcs did this to me. It's not really that bad and it gives me no pain, don't worry, please, it's not your fault," Eruanna said gently. Glorfindel shook his head.

"Sit, I'll find the bandages," he left, faster than he had done in a while. Sighing, Eruanna sat on her bed inspecting the cuts, there was no infection nor was there any need for it to be treated. She went back over to the balcony but Legolas had finished training and was nowhere in sight. It was unlikely he remembered her. If he did, it would not be appropriate to develop their friendship if they were going on an adventure they would be likely to die from. Her options were slim; she could carry on avoiding him for as long as possible. If he remembered her she could try and maintain their once close friendship or she could push him away like she did to so many others. If he had forgotten her it was simply a task of maintaining a civil but distant relationship.

A soft knock on the door made her jump, and looking up Eruanna hid her wrist under her sleeve expecting it to be another of her over concerned friends come to visit.

"Come in," she called out, taking one last glance over the scene below before turning to face the intruder. A very blond elf slipped in timidly, she watched him from behind the silk curtain of the balcony as he glanced around, looking confused to her whereabouts before she coughed. He jumped slightly in surprise then smiled at her as she stepped off the balcony.

"Eruanna? It is you, isn't it?" He asked uncertainly, taking a few nervous steps closer. Laughter poured from her lips and she had to grasp the back of the chair to hold herself upright. When she finally got her breath back she smiled before answering simply

"It's good to see you too Legolas," then she burst back into a fit of uncontrollable giggles. Anger flickered momentarily over the familiar face of the elvish prince before he smiled softly and settled himself in a chair to wait for her to finish giggling.

"Why are you avoiding me?" Legolas asked when she had recovered. He seemed upset, Eruanna sighed. If Legolas had a fault; he could be over sensitive.

"Legolas, I wasn't sure if you remembered me either, please don't be offended," Eruanna smiled, her friend looked puzzled. "Besides, my father really doesn't like you."

Legolas raised an eyebrow delicately and Eruanna sat down next to him, listening intently for her guardian's return. Down the hall footsteps sounded getting increasingly closer before the latch on the door clicked. Her stomach knotted and she dragged the confused prince to his feet.

"Hide behind that curtain, if Glorfindel finds you in here, he will turn you into mincemeat," Legolas frowned but hid behind the nearest curtain anyway.

Glorfindel walked in carrying strips of cloth. Sighing Eruanna stretched her arm out and waited for him to finish.

"Are you done?" Eruanna asked, Glorfindel nodded, stood and sighed, "I must leave you, lord Elrond asked me to help prepare your quest, I'll be back to check on you," the elf did not look at her but left. Legolas's head appeared by her ankle.

"What was that all about, why do I need to hide from him, do I have competition?" he asked.

"Nothing important, he was just fixing me up and there may have been and incidents where I was left unattended with a strange elf in the past have ended badly, and no, there is no competition, you will always be my favorite" she replied, Legolas snorted.

"I'm your favorite am I?" Eruanna glared at him.

"Don't get cocky, or I might have to tie you upside down again" she said grinning mischievously.

"I would like to see you try. It way have worked as a threat when I was an elfling but as I remember it did not work on any of the guards when we tried it so I am not worried," Legolas retorted.

"Oh, you should be," Eruanna chuckled. He raised one eyebrow skeptically. "Just ask Lindir." She continued.

He smiled, "Before I am enraptured by your many tales of victory, I wanted to ask if you would accompany me to the celebrations this evening," Legolas asked. Eruanna stared at him.

"You want me to dance? That is a very dangerous thing to ask of me," Eruanna said eventually.

"I didn't say dancing; I have enough experience to ask that of you. I meant as friends and in truth I need you to scare away the maidens. They are far more persistent here," Legolas answered blushing.

Another onslaught of giggled consumed her. "You want me as your bodyguard" she said through tears of laughter. The elf nodded, trying to keep up his pride and stop him from laughing too but failing. His laugh was pure and musical to her ears and her heart softened towards his plight.

"Well I supposed it won't do me any harm" She considered.

"Thank you" Legolas sighed.

"You are more than welcome mellonin," Eruanna giggled, before launching into a long lecture on dissuading the maids of Rivendell. Legolas listened patiently, smiling reassuringly when she paused to see if he was listening, before picking up her sketch book from the table.

Eruanna froze and watched him flick through it. A small smile played on his lips as he reached several older ones.

"These are good Eruanna... you have a talent here." Legolas commented, flicking though to the back. Eruanna breathed a sigh of relief when she realized the sketch wan't there and relaxed. As the elf put the book back down a small piece of parchment fell out and she grabbed it before he had time to look at it. The picture was that of a half rotted crow, shrouded in a crown of thorny maggots with the inscription: _The king is all lies and hatred. Trust to honor not power._

"Let me see?" Legolas held out his hand expectantly but she summoned her magic to her and roasted the paper before he had time to snatch it out of her hands.

"You wouldn't have liked it." Legolas sighed and cupped her chin in his hand affectionately before excusing himself.

"Well done Euranna, you just irritated your only friend. Congratulations." Eruanna muttered, punching a hole in the fragile table and shredding the sketches before snatching up her daggers to go hunting.

* * *

 

Legolas arrived just before evening set in and threw himself into the chair opposite. Eruanna sipped her drink peeking over the edge of her book before putting it to one side.

"Maidens giving you trouble already?" She asked, pouring him some sweet red wine. Legolas grimaced and took it gratefully. "Tell me about Mirkwood. How is it?"

Legolas began to go into detail about the new captain and Eruanna felt a pang of jealously. Glowering at him as he began to describe her in elaborate detail she picked up her book and flicked through it till he stopped.

"Are you jealous, of Tauriel?" he asked softly.

"I'm not a jealous person. If I was there would be blood," She answered, pouring out more wine.

"You are!" he laughed delightedly.

"I didn't rule out the possibility of blood," Eruanna snapped coldly, feeling her eyes shift to a dangerous red.

"Fine..." Legolas raised his hands in fake surrender before cocking his head to listen to the music drifting up on the wind, "That's our signal." He snatched her glass from her and gulped down the drink before dodging his way to the door.

* * *

 

There was far more light and laughter than she would usually find tolerable in such a large dose. The lack of fights made it seem dull in comparison to her city's celebrations but Legolas's company improved in a little. Despite her presence the younger elleths still persisted in flirting diligently with her friend and after an hour they found themselves hiding in the nearest tree to escape the constant attacks.

"You know, you'll make visits here far more relaxing if you just marry." Eruanna complained, pretending to throw a dagger at a particularly determined girl who was calling desperately to Legolas. "That one seems rather keen."

"You know I find the clingy ones dull and uninteresting..." Legolas complained, running his fingers over the rusted leaves.

"Then find one who isn't dull." Eruanna answered, pulling a chestnut off the tree and throwing it at the girl. The nut hit her square in the forehead and she yelped. "That ones head is very empty... you don't want that one."

Legolas bit back a smile and she handed him one of the fruits, he took aim and threw it more reluctantly so it his her gently on the shoulder and bounced off with a pathetic thud.

"That was rubbish! No wonder the maidens get the better of you!"

"You forget that not all women can defend themselves." Legolas retorted.

"Well that is not my concern, if they can't be bothered to learn then they can't expect me to be bothered about protecting them from flying chestnuts." Eruanna giggled, throwing two more at the maids friends who had also joined in the search before stretching out on the branch.

"Get your feet off me." Legolas growled, Eruanna smirked and closed her eyes.

"What's the matter? Getting mud on your silks again?"

Legolas shoved her ankle and she fell sideways, crashing down to the earth at the speed of a charging bull. She landed on one of the young elves and grinned in delight as she squealed in surprise. From the branches above a small trickle of laughter fell around her ears and Eruanna kicked the branch violently causing the entire tree to shake. Legolas landed far more gracefully on the earth beside her, smiling apologetically at the elleth who stalked off, her face burning with the same shade as the autumn leaves.

"Well, that's one way to get rid of them."

After she had gathered her composure, they both followed the smells of roasting meats and fine wine back to the celebrations. The younger hobbits, Merry and Pippin, were busy hiding beneath the table and she smiled at their unsuccessful attempts to steal food. Legolas nudged her at pointed at them before grinning.

"Why don't you give them a hand, a little magic perhaps?"

"Because two halflings could not possibly eat all of that, and I would like some."

Legolas sighed, shaking his head before informing her he needed to speak with Aragorn. Eruanna grinned at the hobbits before clicking her fingers. The table began to slowly lean until it toppled onto its side, leaving the tow halflings covered in various sauces and caught red handed.

* * *

 

Bored of the celebrations, she turned away and followed the track down to the little alcove that hid a stream. She settled quietly down on the bridge and began to watch the stars as they reflected of the glass surface of the water. At length the water ripped and changed, taking the form of a petite woman.

"Siderio... What are you doing here? I thought we agreed not to meet anymore." Eruanna hissed, the face in the water looked pained and full of grief.

"You know I would not unless it was urgent...not after..."

"Get to the point." She snapped coldly, remembering the bitter parting she had shared with the woman.

"Your uncle knows you are in possession of the ring. Should this quest fail... your head is the price to pay."

"Typical. Remind my uncle of who I am. I gave him that throne; I can take it away. Leave me, I never want to see you again, understand?"

"Yes, my..."

"I am nothing to you." Eruanna interrupted, waving away the apparition, water splashed up her legs and she lay back, rubbing her eyes as regret began to cloud her heart.


	4. Men, Elves And Monsters

Eruanna sat peacefully on a small bridge, her legs dangling over the edge, her brothers, sat either side of her. She watched the brightly coloured fish swim beneath her feet shimmering like the sun's rays hitting the water. Eruanna slipped one foot into the water, the fish scattered, leaving an empty cold feeling to the water, Eruanna glanced at Elladan then Elrohir. The two Elves seemed gloomy, not trying to push her in, as they usually did.

"What troubles you, brothers" Eruanna asked, summoning her water magic and flicking ripples across the still water.

"You're going away, sister, you left us ,to see the world, came back, left to Mordor, that took you a year to escape, you may not escape again" Elladan said, his face filled with sorrow. Eruanna sighed, her brothers worried too much,

"I cannot stay; my people swore an oath, to defend middle earth from the one ring, until there where none of us left"

"What is the oath you speak of?" Elrohir said, Eruanna smiled, Elrohir rarely spoke, but he sometimes let her and Elladan know what he was thinking.

"The first houses of the naira swore an oath, that until that ring was destroyed, we could not leave to our home lands in Termoree "Eruanna whispered sadly "and I'm the last of my house, my brother rejected his claim and the rest were killed, under my father's rule, they were slaughtered, then Sauron fooled my fatherand we almost lost our freedom, now we fight to retain it." Eruanna blinked back her tears.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked" Elrohir murmured. Elladan shook his head, to tell him to stop talking.

"Elladan, Elrohir, get your useless selves up here, we need you to help your sister." a voice called from the house way above them.

"That will be Glorfindel" Elladan said grinning at her, and the both left reluctantly.

The fish where back, swimming lazily along the bottom of the stream, Eruanna watched them, her mind turned over what she had learnt. Tomorrow she would leave and probably never come back. Boromir would not survive, she knew that much, her foresight had told her and it never lied.

So what would become of the rest of them? Eruanna sighed in frustration, she hated not knowing but she hated knowing even more. Eruanna thought of Legolas then, he had been a childhood friend, nothing more, so why did she feel as if she could die when he left her side, why did her heart race, why did she see fireworks when he touched her. Glorfindel said she was dangerously close to being in love but she lacked the emotions to "love."  
Eruanna looked up, the stars glistened like one thousand eyes, She felt safe here, nothing could hurt her, but she knew she would have to be brave, not for her sake, but for middle earths. The sound of singing drifted towards her on the wind, Eruanna shivered, wrapping her arms round herself, singing her own song to drown out that of the dwarves:

_The night is fading_  
_The sun has gone_  
_No warmth left in the air_  
_A whisper in the breeze_  
_A nameless terror_  
_And then the stars go out_

_The air is choking_  
_There is a smell of fear_  
_There is movement about_  
_But no one knows_  
_And then the stars go out_

_I can hear cry's_  
_A crow is calling, calling it says_  
_No hope left_  
_Turn back turn back_  
_And then the stars go out_

_There is no one left_  
_No children to mourn_  
_Their dead fathers_  
_No mothers to comfort them_  
_All around is silence_  
_And then the stars go out_

_I can see a shadow_  
_Flying across the horizon_  
_And then the stars go out_  
_And the stars go out_  
_Then the stars go out_  
_Tonight._

* * *

"My lady?" Boromir's voice stirred her from her peaceful thoughts. He held a bottle of wine in his hand and he offered it to her gingerly. "It's a peace offering. Forgive me for what I said earlier, it was not right."

Eruanna snorted and pulled the cork from the bottle with her teeth before spitting it into the bushes. The man held out his hand hopefully and she handed him the now empty bottle, he looked down at it disdainfully before smiling.

"Your words did not offend me Boromir. Do not take this the wrong way but I don't trust your race, they are greedy and power hungry."

"So are yours."

"It's different when its your own kin."

He frowned in confusion and Eruanna held out her hand for the empty bottle. He handed it to her and she waved her hand over the top, refilling it with wine.

"The halflings will be a liability. They cannot fight." she said thoughtfully.

"You could train them." The man suggested helpfully.

"Ha, no. They wouldn't last long enough" she laughed.

"They have more fight in them than you know."

"What are they going to do... Bight my knees? Steal my boots? Sabotage my hunting practices by sneaking up on me? They are peaceful folk, not bred I think, for war like my kin."

Boromir smiled grimly and took a swig of the wine before she snatched it back off him.

"I will kill Frodo if he cannot destroy the ring. I will kill you if you get in my way, thats applies to any of you. Only one of us is immortal..."

"To an extent..." he interrupted.

"I heal fast if the damage is great... you'd have to behead me to be sure, even then, we can still come back if our soul has enough strength."

"I will keep that in mind..."

"You have one of those?" Eruanna asked casually, smirking and the irritation on the mans face.

"Must you mock everyone you meet?"

"Only the ones who I think will annoy me."

"I brought you wine!" Boromir retorted defensively.

"So does Glorfindel, doesn't mean I'm going to marry him."

"I did not come to fight, I came to ask if you would at least be civil... as I see you will not, I take my leave of you." Boromir snapped curtly, throwing the wine bottle into her hand and storming off.

"Touchy, Touchy" she muttered before heading off to her chambers.

* * *

 

Daybreak was soon upon the world but Eruanna did not sleep that night. Upon the sunrise she slipped from the bed sheets and dressed in a lightweight tunic and leggings. She strapped on her weaponry. Two daggers across her back, a long sword on one hip and a quiver full of arrows on the other; though these gave her little comfort compared to the baldes. She stood gazing at her ever-changing eyes and pale skin, for once she would allow herself to see some beauty in her features but for all the liquid corn coloured hair and lithe and slender body, it could not always hide the ugliness of her nature within.

The changeable and often sadistic nature that would do anything to get its way and often did. Unadulterated pride mixed with overconfidence and a reckless desire for recognition. A complete lack of care for anyone else. No beauty could hide such traits for ever and no amount of outward perfection could make another love them. It had been a long time since anyone had and she expected it would be a long time before another would. Calmly she braided her hair into a loose plat to keep it out of the way. She put together blankets and other essentials needed for the long journey. With one last look around the cosy room, she turned her back upon a trouble free life and set out into the unknown.

 


	5. Faith, Trust and Murdering Rabbits

 Eruanna looked round at the desert like landscape. Sighing irritably she glanced at Bill, he seemed the only one who would listen to her opinions, the others just thought she was, well not much use, other than a guide.

The pony came over and nudged her ear, smiling she whispered to him "Man anírach cerin an le, Bill?" the pony snorted, Eruanna watched Pippin climb up a tree, then fall out of it, "Ya línna ambanna tulinuva nan! What do you think Bill?" she asked the pony, smiling at the shock on the hobbits face. Bill snorted in agreement; nodding his shaggy head up and down, Eruanna chuckled.

"He likes you, my lady," a voice said from behind her, Eruanna looked around to see Sam watching her with interest.

"Sometimes I think he's the only one who will listen and not laugh at me," she replied "besides he only wants food."

The hobbit looked at her then sat beside her, "I don't think that's true, you just don't want to talk to any of us."

Eruanna smiled "If only it where that simple, but sadly it's not, you've seen how Boromir, Gimli, Gandalf and even Aragorn brush me off, I'm the only female, I know nothing of war in their eyes, yet I know more than them for I have seen many a war and fought in many too, but they don't know that."

Sam nodded, "You should prove that you do, I think you know what to expect, which is knowledge they don't have, besides, we don't all think you're bad. The elf, Legolas, he keeps trying to get you involved in plans, he has faith in you. Frodo, Pippin, and Merry, they have faith to."

Eruanna shook her head, "But do you trust me, faith and trust can be very different."

Sam looked thoughtful for a while, "Yes, you may not be particularly friendly or sociable but you know what you're talking about when you decide to speak, I'll give you that," the halfling answered.

Eruanna let a small smile play on her lips before hiding it once more, letting the taught civilities once more flow from her, though they felt more like lies. "Thank you, I'm sorry if I scare you all, I don't mean to, I don't usually talk to people, I hide behind others and I'm not used to this."

Sam shook his head, "You don't scare me; I confess you are not what many expect from a woman, if you know what I mean," The hobbit said blushing profusely.

"I know what you mean and yet I don't. My kin are very different from others and we live lives that are cut off from everyone else, we are not used to the way others are, you all seem so, odd, you barely speak your minds and when we do we are considered rude here, in our own walls, its how we become leaders. My people want the truth whereas everyone else runs from it" Eruanna confessed.

Sam smiled shyly. Frodo came over from Pippin and Merry, he looked awkwardly at Eruanna, "Sam, the others want you to cook dinner now," he said looking at his friend.

Sam looked at Eruanna, "Will you want anything to eat, my lady," he asked.

Eruanna smiled, "You needn't call me that Sam and yes, that would be nice" Eruanna replied, Bill snorted and nudged her, Eruanna turned back to him and Sam went to cook dinner. "What are we going to do with you?" Eruanna giggled as she fed the pony his oats. Eruanna looked out across the land once more, the sun was going down in the horizon, it was going to be a dull day tomorrow, Eruanna shook her head "Maybe I should talk to Legolas tomorrow, I haven't spoken to him since Rivendell, I'm starting to miss elvish company again," she thought. Cursing herself for sounding needy, Eruanna got up and walked over to join the group.

The fire crackled lazily as twilight seeped into night. Eruanna sat eating the morsels of soup that Sam had saved from Gimli and had given to her. Her stomach growled restlessly and it whined at her for more. She glanced around the small camp of sleeping body's. The loud snores of a dwarf and the softer ones from the hobbits eased her mind that they were safe and contented. They had drawn lots on first watch earlier that day and Gimli had frantically tried to work his way out until she had volunteered in his stead. Now she sat watching the stars open up their sleepy lids to start their protective watch upon the world.

Eruanna could a smell upon the chill breeze and it made her stomach grumble demandingly. She glanced once more over at the drowsy shapes and slunk off in the direction of the sweet sent. It was not long before she found the rabbit burrow and she sat waiting at its opening for the dwellers to crawl out. The first of them crawled out nose twitching wildly. Eruanna scooped it up fast before snapping its neck. She sank her fangs deep into its flesh and drank deeply. She laid its body on one side when she had finished and waited for more.

After several hours of successful hunting, Eruanna mopped the blood from around her mouth on the cuff of her shirt and let the stinging of her retracting incisors die down before she collected up the furry bodies and set about skinning them. After they were skinned and gutted she put them in a pot and began to cook them. The youngest hobbit; Pippin, stirred at the smell and Eruanna held her breath. He did not wake. Once they were cooked she refilled her empty bowl and guzzled it down, glancing over at the dwarf every so often to make sure he was still in a deep sleep.

The fire was dying down and its embers glowed dimly. The darkness was now implacable and absolute and Eruanna had to strain her eyes to see into the darkness. There was a soft hiss from somewhere in the shadows. Her heart froze its steady beating and she lowered the bowl she held. Reaching down for her knife, she heard it again only closer.

"I know you are there. Come out or I will kill you and be glad of it," Eruanna called out softly.

The hiss went silent. Frowning she looked around into the lingering black. Darkness was absolute. Eruanna looked at the fire and willed its flames to grow once more. The fire's welcoming and cheery smile turned blue and rose cold casting its long icy fingers across the landscape. She saw nothing. She heard nothing. She felt something. Uneasily she stood, picking up a small piece of meat she threw it out into the last tendrils of light. A shadow pounced on it before receding into the gloom. Eruanna relaxed. The company was in no danger for the shadow was but a trapped spirit, locked between worlds, neither alive nor dead but it could not harm anyone and if it could, she did not fear her own death.

Reassured that her mind was playing tricks to some degree she went over to Boromir and shook him awake. She slunk over to the cool fire and wrapped herself up in her bedding. Sleep was a long time arriving. She lay gazing up at the sky wondering if her friends who had not been banished did the same and prayed for her safe return. It was doubtful but it gave some comfort to the eternal banishment of many of her kind. One could not go back till one succeeded in a selfless act. At last sleep finally claimed her mind but there was no peace in her dreams. They were laced with the same cold darkness that surrounded the company and she could not escape.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Man anírach cerin an le?- what can i do for you?
> 
> Ya línna ambanna tulinuva nan- what goes up must come down?


	6. Living The Dream

There was crimson everywhere, jackdaws circled ever lower upon the deathly mass of bodies. The battle was won at cost. Eruanna tried to shoo the crows that where pecking at the dead away but more came. Like heavy black clouds they descended on the earth and scoffed the rotting flesh. Those who survived the battle watched in horror as their lifeless friends where turned to dust. When the devourer of death had no more dead to eat., it turned upon the living. Eruanna screamed over and over as the birds tore her skin form her body.

"Eruanna, Eruanna. Wake up," came a familiar but hurried voice. The carrion kept on coming ripping and shredding. She screamed louder begging for it to stop. "Eruanna, wake up, you're dreaming."

She clawed at her skin trying to tear it away so the birds would let her alone. Then a bright white light filtered though the blackness and the birds were gone. She opened her eyes slowly to see hazy figure standing over her.

"Is she ok?" said one.

"She will be. It was just a dream, she'll be ok," said the voice from her dream.

"What could have brought on such a fit?" asked a harsher more unpleasant voice.

"Hush dwarf, she's wakening," said that all too familiar voice. Finally her vision began to focus and she saw Legolas crouching over her, gathered round were the worried faces of the nine companions she had been traveling with. Eruanna groaned miserably and closed her eyes and prayed that it was a dream. After a moment more she sat up and rested her forehead on her knees, her stomach churned violently.

"Sam, fetch some water for her," Aragorn said softly.

"What did you see?" Gandalf asked after Sam had returned. "What is to happen?"

Eruanna looked at the wizard. "It is not what will happen but what has already happened," she answered croakily. They all gave her inquisitive looks but did not ask questions.

"You need those cuts seeing to before we go on," Aragorn stated.

She looked sown to see grazes across her arms and she presumed her face for it stung now with bitter ferocity. "Did I…?" she said, letting the question trail off.

"You started to tear at yourself when your dream came on, I don't think the cuts are deep but you should get them bathed," Legolas answered gently.

"It's fine, they are already healing," Eruanna sighed showing him the gashes that where turning into scabs.

Satisfied she was alright the company set about reading a fire and cooking breakfast. All except the elf who sat by her side watching her sip the water she had been given with a look of curiosity on his fair face.

"Shouldn't you be watching out for any evil beings?" she remarked. He smiled gently and shook his head. "You don't have to sit by me. I'm fine now. I just had a bad dream," she told him.

"What about?" her friend asked.

"You always where far too inquisitive," Eruanna told him.

"And you always shut out those who wish to help," he answered.

"You really want to know the details of my mind elf?" He nodded slowly and cautiously.

"There was a battle. It was many years ago now," Eruanna paused, collecting herself. Legolas smiled in encouragement. "I was charged with the strategies and was told I would be leading one of our units into the lines of orcs…"

"That was an honourable charge," Legolas interrupted.

Scowling at him she continued, "Honourable for an elf perhaps and my kind too, but I was young and ill experienced in such matters. I was offered help and refused it. All the honour in Middle Earth could not have stopped the slaughter of my soldiers. I lost more than any could count. I won the battle but lost my friends, my comrades. Those who survive would search amongst the bodies in vain to find their own friends. We watched as the carrion devoured each and every one with the hope we may find at least one extra life still living. We found none.

"It was all because I had been too foolish to heed advice from those who had gone before. My father sent me away for the shame of it and I was locked away for what seemed like an eternity. Their lives could have been saved if I had not been so reckless and proud. Theirs are the deaths that will not leave me be," She told him.

It seemed hours before Legolas spoke and when he did "I'm sorry. I didn't know," were his only worlds. He did not look revolted or disgusted at her as she had expected, only with understanding.

"You are not shocked by this?" she asked.

"No. We both know how reckless you can be and we both know that for your kind you are still barley more than a child. For such trust to be placed upon your shoulders was a fault of your king as well as your own for not thinking it through," Legolas answered. Eruanna nodded and then began to smile at him. "What" he asked.

"If I am barley more than a child in my people's eyes what does that make you in your own kinds eyes, you are after all only three years my senior?" she replied wickedly.

"Are you calling me a child," Legolas questioned indignantly.

"I was thinking more along the lines of toddler," she said thoughtfully. She watched the elf huff resentfully before allowing herself a smug smile.

* * *

 

There were arguments, once again. Eruanna moaned softly in exasperation, they would never get to Mordor at this rate; she got up and went to see what the matter was and as she drew closer she caught bits of the voices.

"We can't go that way; it takes us too near to Isengard," Aragorn said,

"Then what about Redhorn Pass?" Gandalf's voice sounded tired.

"No, too dangerous, let alone cold," came Gimli's voice. "We could pass through Moria," he continued.

"No, I will not follow or advise going to such a place," Legolas's voice said, softer than the others, Eruanna's stomach fluttered at the sound, before remembering his rude remark about her age earlier.

"So, which are we going? If you can't decide, I shall ask one of you to decide for all of us," she interrupted. Everyone looked at her startled, then looked at Gandalf expectantly,

"We shall go over the mountain," he said

"Then we must collect wood, we will need a fire up there," said Boromir, trying to gain his pride back, after not being asked for his opinion. Eruanna grinned, happy that she was not the only one being left out; Boromir glared at her and turned his back.

"Eruanna, would you care to walk with me?" asked a voice, from behind her. The flutter was back in her stomach, she knew who it was. Turning round, she saw Legolas studying her face.

"Perhaps your company will do me some good," She replied at her eyes turning a brilliant red, his face lighting up with amusement as she scowled at Boromir's snide remarks he was making to the halflings.. Turning back to her bag she felt her cheeks burning red; she stuffed her bedding into her bag and slung it on her back. Composing herself she stood and went back over to where the rest of the company stood.

Legolas playfully held out his arm. "I don't need you to escort me" she said defensively.

He chuckled softly, "I thought it customary of your people to escort fine lady's on their way," he retorted.

"No. I am almost certain that is an elvish custom," Eruanna answered taking his arm anyway.

"And how you know that?" Legolas asked.

"If you really want to know, you elves can be a bunch of sexist bastards when it comes to etiquette," Eruanna whispered.

"Is that so? I shall inform my father of your opinion," Legolas teased, pulling on one of her lopsided braids.

"As much as I admire your father, elf, he is the most sexist creature I have ever met," Eruanna remarked.

"When you are both finished arguing about elven protocol, would you get a move on, it is already midday," called Gandalf from the front of the party.

Legolas looked at Eruanna. Eruanna looked at Legolas. Both let out a roar of laughter before running to catch up.


	7. Mistrust

There was the clear sound of a horn on the wind amidst the screeching roar of their foes and the crashing of water on rocks. The world was blurred and unfocused and she turned blindly in it calling out to people she could hear whose faces were but shapes in the fast moving light. Fighting the splitting pain in her skull she looked closer and the scene formed more clearly. Orcs raged down the slopes around her, the forest seemed so dark and she tried to draw a sword to fight only to find she had none. A sense of helplessness washed over her and she looked up at the oncoming storm only to find the wave charge through her as though she never existed at all.

 

Eruanna chased the beasts, following the clear horn, every movement was a knife to her head but she gritted her teeth. There were so many of the enemy. In a frantic decision she climbed a large boulder to gaze out across the forest. From further afield she saw a bright flash and heard her own scream. Automatically she looked down, but there was no wound. She then turned her gaze in the opposite direction, tuning it in on two halflings trapped by a dark circle of monsters.

 

For a moment she froze, uncertain of the right path until her decision was made for her. Boromir careered over the hill swinging his sword, his horn blowing so loudly it froze the enemy for a moment. It was but an instant. Then they were upon him and she watched in mild amazement as the man fought off uruk after uruk. A soft lull in the air and movement in her eye distracted her attention from the man’s sloppy footing. A creak of a bow, the soft harsh breath as an arrow was pulled into a taut string. She turned back.  Her voice failed her for a second, before coming out in a shrill scream that sounded distant and hollow.

 

“Look out!”

 

The man of Gondor paused a frown on his face before turning his back entirely on the archer. With almost desperation looked from the arrow to the man and closed her eyes, wishing it to be over. And then it was. The scene changed before her eyes, the man had fallen beside a tree with the ranger kneeling over him. _‘I tried to take the ring...’’_

 

Her eyes found the man as he struggled to breath, venom pooling in her mouth as a fire kindled low in her belly. The ring was not his to take. It was not the halflings either, it belonged to the darkness and the darkness would destroy it. Aragorn just nodded and eruanna hissed through her teeth at the insolence but her displeasure fell on muted ears. There was another figure beside the two other companions who waited. Blurred out as if they were never supposed to be there.

 

The scene changed rapidly before she could command it to and she looked to the falls, a song floating around her ears like a wasp she could not see. A boat drifted out over the falls and she smiled to herself. He had paid for his greed with his blood. Yet something bothered her about this, the man in the glade, fighting, was one of honour and courage; someone she could learn to admire. The man who had wanted the ring was nothing more than a coward. _Just like your sister._ Eruanna shook of the thought and closed her eyes, learning the words of the lament.

It was pitch black as she opened her eyes. The members of the fire had gone out and there was a chill in the air. Sitting up slowly, she wiped her sweat from her face and smiled to herself. Carefully so as not to wake the group she rose, pulling out a sharp dagger, and softly she began to sing.

 

Through Rohan over fen and field where the long grass grows

The West Wind comes walking, and about the walls it goes.

'What news from the West, O wandering wind, do you bring to me tonight?

Have you seen Boromir the Tall by moon or by starlight?'

'I saw him ride over seven streams, over waters wide and grey;

I saw him walk in empty lands, until he passed away

Into the shadows of the North. I saw him then no more.

The North Wind may have heard the horn of the son of Denethor.'

'O Boromir! From the high walls westward I looked afar,

But you came not from the empty lands where no men are.

 

Slowly she tip toed over to the sleeping Halfling and with her thieves hands she slipped the ring from his neck, holding it up to the light before moving over to the sleeping man whose honour was his pride.

 

From the mouths of the Sea the South Wind flies, from the sandhills and the stones;

The wailing of the gulls it bears, and at the gate it moans.

'What news from the South, O sighing wind, do you bring to me at eve?

Where now is Boromir the fair? He tarries and I grieve.'

'Ask not of me where he doth dwell --- so many bones there lie

On the white shores and the dark shores under the stormy sky;

So many have passed down Anduin to find the flowing Sea.

Ask of the North Wind news of them the North Wind sends to me!'

'O Boromir! Beyond the gate the seaward road runs south,

But you came not with the wailing gulls from the grey sea's mouth.'

 

Keeping her voice low she moved closer to Boromir, the ring cold in her palm. She could feel the power coursing through it but she could sense something else. _Fear_. The ring was afraid.

 

From the Gate of Kings the North Wind rides, and past the roaring falls;

And clear and cold about the tower its loud horn calls.

'What news from the North, O mighty wind, do you bring to me today?

What news of Boromir the Bold? For he is long away.'

'Beneath Amon Hen I heard his cry. There many foes he fought.

His cloven shield, his broken sword, they to the water brought.

His head so proud, his face so fair, his limbs they laid to rest;

And Rauros, golden Rauros-falls, bore him upon its breast.'

'O Boromir! The Tower of Gaurd shall ever northward gaze

To Rauros, golden Rauros-falls, until the end of days.

 

But not today my honoured man, not upon this day'

 

 

The stars glittered down upon a peaceful face. It looked so scene, like the endless sleep to come. Eruanna knelt over him, holding her blade in hand as she traced the pulsing artery in his exposed neck. It would be so easy just to cut it. After a few moments she looked at the ring before tying it round her own neck. She then sent a prayer to whichever god might care for the man asking forgiveness and raised the knife but the blow never came. She let out a snarl and fought the grip that clutched her wrist but it did not loosen.

 

“ _Leave him be”_

Cursing the ranger she stood, narrowing her eyes at him, letting a soft hiss escape as she bared her teeth. The man did not seem to flinch, but she caught a movement in his eyes, and instinct to run and she laughed bitterly, remembering the same look on so many others faces. _Right before I pushed a knife through their belly’s_. Ignoring he inviting thought she glowered at him and gave him an answer.

 

“He’s a dead man walking Aragorn…I’d be doing him a favour.”

 

The ranger was unmoved, he held out his hand and his eyes turned to the ring.

 

“I think I’d better put it back.. after all, if he can’t resist it, can you say you can?”

 

“I might” The man answered softly, though doubt showed in his eyes.

 

To this answer she scoffed before replying: “Men are weak, you are weak, you are afraid. We might win this war but when the real one comes, you men will perish because dying is what you are good at.”

 

Aragorn said nothing, his brow furrowed in confusion but she decided not to help him, giving him a gloating smile before dropping the ring into Frodo’s sleeping palm. Giving the ranger an icy glare she settled herself some way from the others, keeping her back to them as she waited for the sun to rise.


	8. Gandalf... The Mountain Can't Hear You

 

Shivering, Eruanna watched the conflict in Boromir's face as he held the ring within touching distance. Ready to spring. To kill if needed. The man would not take the ring from the halfling. Not while she breathed.

"Boromir. Give Frodo the ring." Aragorn snapped impatiently, his eyes flickering over to her, she nodded and she watched sadness fill his eyes, the knowledge that all she had said was coming true would sting; thankfully he had said nothing to anyone else. Boromir jumped startled before begrudgingly handing it over. Her feet were growing numb from the chilled ground and snow was falling in flurries around them. Eruanna could make out Gandalf furiously struggling through the snow. He was like a deranged madman determined to reach his goal, but his goal would be the death of someone. Several times other routes had been suggested and he had insisted that they continue in torturous conditions. She dragged her feet though what was now growing to be knee deep snow and despite the cold bothering her very little, it was beginning to become tiresome. Upon the air there was a voice, chanting and hollering with the wind.

"There is a fell voice on the air!" Legolas informed Gandalf, hurrying ahead to listen more closely. Gandalf gave him a worried look. A crack like the clapping of thunder was heard from above and rocks began to tumble down upon them.

"It's Saruman. He's trying to bring down the mountain!" Gandalf shouted, raising his arms in some form of worship.

"Gandalf, I'm afraid its the wrong time of year for the snow god to be out..." Eruanna said thoughtfully as he danced around chanting. The wizard gave her dirty look.

"I'll have none of your cheek now Eruanna. I am not trying to summon one of your gods, I am merely trying to put an end to this accursed weather!" Eruanna frowned in confusion. Surely stopping the snow was simple enough? She smiled sweetly at him before answering:

"Well why didn't you say so?" clapping her hands together and willing away the snow. The snow stopped but it was already too deep to continue. The irritated look the wizard gave her brought a smirk to her lips and she settled down in the snow as the arguments began.

" We must continue on our path." Gandalf bellowed as Boromir insisted going close to Fangorn. Eruanna for once agreed with the man. If the company got close enough to the forest her people could ambush them and take the ring. The task would be completed with no hassle and the foolish emotions everyone else seemed so keen on.

"We must turn back." Aragorn replied calmly. The demented look was back in the wizard's eye and he shook his head. Just then another wave of snow crashed down burying them beneath its weight. Eruanna squealed in shock as the freezing fists of cold hit her. Hurriedly she pushed her way up to the surface and gasped for air. The cold was freezing all the warmth from her lungs and she was finding it hard to breath.

"Gandalf! This will be the death of the hobbits!" Boromir yelled, the wind was beginning to pick up and to her annoyance the snow had started up again.

"Let us go through the mines of Moria." Gimli suggested. Her heart sank at the mention of those unfathomable depths, she knew the stories; the evil that lurked in the shadow and preyed on anything it came into contact with.

"Let the ring bearer decide." Gandalf said grimly. All eyes turned to Frodo, who was by now shivering and turning a light shade of blue from the perilous cold.

"We will go through the mines." He answered. Gandalf's words echoed her thoughts.

"So be it."

* * *

They trudged back along the route they had taken earlier the snow thinning out. Their spirits low with the defeat of their battle with the mountain. It was growing dark as they neared the gates and they stopped to rest for a good while. Eruanna sat alone watching the flame in her palm blink at her over and over. It brought her no real warmth but it quenched a small amount apprehension she felt writhing within her. At length she heard a rasping croak. Her heart turned cold. The flame in her palm flickered and died out. She stared at the small cawing bird not three feet in front of her. Black from head to toe with small beady eyes his rasping cry tore into her soul. She sat very still, holding her breath. She tried closing her eyes to see if it would leave. It croaked at her again and she felt the panic rising within her.

"Go on Shoo you dirty bird." Gimli shouted. "There is no food for you here." The bird cocked its head and glared at the dwarf before spreading its wings to join its comrades in the nearby tree. Eruanna watched in frozen suspension as the crows swooped up into the sky cackling and croaking to one another as they drifted off on the wind.

"My lady… Are you alright? You're as pale as a ghost." Boromir asked kindly.

"I'm fine. I'm just tired and cold that is all." she lied, nervously watching the black shapes circling the moon like deaths followers on the hunt for lost souls.

* * *

Finally the black cliffs that showed off Moria's might loomed into view. Gimli gazed at them with wondrous awe and the others stopped to take in its sheer size.

"If I was younger I would be in awe too" Eruanna thought disdainfully. They staggered over loose rocks towards what Gimli claimed was the entrance to the tunnels. Warily Eruanna cast her eyes over the still lake whose waters had not a ripple upon them. It was a long time before they found the gates. Moonlight lit it up sending a sliver of light across the still water. Gandalf gave a triumphant smile and began to try and open the door. Eruanna sat under one of the dead trees gazing out across the water. It was so still and quiet. She thought it odd for that of a great city; it could almost be too quiet.

"We are disturbing the peace. We should move on." Eruanna said coolly. Gimli snorted.

"Does silence unnerve you Eruanna?" Boromir asked.

"I fear nothing. This quiet is not natural; it has evil on its lips." Eruanna snapped. The man raised his eyebrow but said nothing more. Legolas shifted beside her with impatience and she nudged him playfully before turning back to Gandalf and Frodo.

"It's a riddle." Frodo said. "Speak 'friend' and enter… what's the elvish word for friend?"

"Mellon." Gandalf answered. The door swung open. Eruanna paid no attention to the door. She stood at the the water's edge. Ripples spread across it, beneath the cold dark water a shape swam. She turned silently and slipped into the mine after the others mentioning nothing of the shadow in the slimy silk water. The sound inside the mine was the same as it had been outside; utter nothing.

"We shouldn't be here." She whispered, her hand already twitching for want of the comfort of a knife.

"Nonsense. Soon you shall enjoy the comfort of roaring fires and red meat off the bone." Gimli chided.

"Why then, do I see no fires in this mine?" Eruanna muttered darkly as Gandalf lit his staff.

"This is no mine. It is a tomb." Boromir exclaimed as the light finally cast out across the entrance. Gimli howled in pain.

"Goblins!" Legolas exclaimed pulling an arrow out of the nearest corpse. Automatically Eruanna's hand flew to the hilt of her sword ready to fight.

"Get out! We should never have come here!" Boromir cried. Eruanna turned to see a tentacle creeping out from the water. A cruel thought came into her head. "If it gets Frodo. This quest will be over. The ring lost. My oath fulfilled. I need not follow them any more" She turned a blind eye to the snake crawling up behind the halfling. Frodo screamed and fell. The snakelike creature dragging Frodo back to the dark depths where it belonged.

"ARAGORN" the hobbits screamed. The others sprang into action. She listened to the halfling's howls of terror, torn between her own wishes and the trust placed in her. Loyalty to two different sides. She settled herself on a rock to watch, picking up a stone to sharpen her sword. She let the grinding steel screech echo round the cavern as she ran the small rock down the blade.

"Eruanna! What are you doing? Help us!" Boromir screamed.

"Damn it! Busted!" she cursed, getting up and jogging over to join in the fight half hardheartedly.

Slimy limbs writhed around in the water. Realizing her own life was now in jeopardy she started to form a plan in her head.

"Distract it" Eruanna thought. "How?" She contemplated as she drove her blade into it's nearest arm. If it was what she thought it was; it wouldn't be too hard to get its attention. She ran back to the shore and drew out her dagger slashing her forearm with it she let her blood pool into the water. The monster dropped the hobbit and swung itself in her direction.

"Get inside!" She yelled, gritting her teeth as the bulbous mass of muscle and flesh pounded through the water towards her.  _"Fool, you're going to get yourself killed. Flee."_  Eruanna held her ground, waiting until the last minute before diving out of the way.

"Inside. Into the mine!" Gandalf called from behind her but she didn't care. This was what she lived for, no old man with a pointy hat was going to sway her. She ducked and dodged and leaped the numerous ligaments of the creature.

"Eruanna!" Legolas yelled, shooting at the beast once again. His voice snapped the trance she was held in, forcing her retreat. She reached the entrance and was frantically pulled inside by one of the party. Her blood rushed with adrenaline and she turned to finish the creature. Its tentacles crept up the sides of the door and the ceiling caved in. She dived out of the way. Pain slashing up her leg. There was utter darkness

 


	9. Bloody Magic, Bloody Mortals, Bloody Quest

Eruanna watched, shivering as the doors caved in, the walls of the mine thundered with the sound. Her leg felt numb, a small boulder had fallen on it momentarily before she had shoved it off. She shifted her weight onto it and let out a squeal of pain as a flash of agony flared through it. She fell to the floor and stared down at her leg, blood a dark crimson colour seeped through her breeches. Fascinated, Eruanna gazed on as it began to pool around her ankle and trickle under the nearest rocks.

"You alright?" Legolas asked coming over from the top of the stairs where the others were resting.

"Yes. I think." Eruanna mumbled still watching the blood, running through the cracks in the now blocked door, the scent filling her nostrils in a delicious sickly aroma.

Legolas watched it too for a few seconds, and then said gently, "No, you're not, you're bleeding." He called to Aragorn to come and help him.

"Please, I don't want his help." she hissed at Legolas. "He's a human." Legolas raised an eyebrow; one thing that was not well-known of the Naira was their disliking of humans, even if they knew them well.

"You will have to put up with it." sighed Legolas, tugging on her arm determinedly.

"Couldn't you do it, if Aragorn told you what to do? " she asked, shifting nervously away from the man. She couldn't trust herself not to harm him, even if he was one of the more decent ones.

"It would be a good idea, I value my neck." Aragorn said in a seemingly good-natured tone but Eruanna saw straight though his guise to the distrust he had always held for her. Legolas sighed and agreed.

Gently he pulled off her boot and rolled up the leg of her now blood soaked breeches. Eruanna winced at the sight of it; it ran all the way up her shin and was deep enough to see some of her bone. Aragorn passed Legolas some gauze, and told him to press it down firmly. The elf nodded and pressed it over the wound as gently as he could. Eruanna sucked in her breath to stop herself from screaming, Legolas then wound a bandage over the gauze and tied it tight. A whimper escaped her lips, the elf looked at her apologetically before helping her to her feet taking her weight on his shoulders, he helped her to where the others where. Eruanna looked at her arm, the gash she'd made to distract the watcher was already healed; her leg on the other hand would take more time.

"That was brave of you, distracting that thing." Boromir said with a hint of respect in his voice. The look on his face told her he hadn't forgotten her late intervention.

"It's what I was trained to do ever since I was little, as soon as I knew how to walk I was taught how to fight, I knew I had a duty to save others. It's not brave, it's what I've been taught. Besides, bravery is often a softer word for stupidity." Eruanna replied, when her father had been alive, he'd decided she would have a great destiny. He'd forced her to become a soldier when she had wanted to learn healing arts. He had then been murdered and left her alone with her bereaved siblings and a kingdom to manage. Thinking about it since the events she knew that she had never really belonged in her family, she didn't belong anywhere and she did not miss her father.

Legolas sat beside her, checking her temperature and pulse.

"You're cold, here, come closer, I'll warm you up a little if you wish." He concluded, and stretched his arm out. Eruanna huddled up to him not caring what the others thought; he was her closest friend and was concerned for her. There was no reason to pretend otherwise. She saw Boromir glaring at Legolas, she didn't care what he thought, Legolas was worried about her, this might only happen once. "I love him" she thought to herself. The sudden thought hit her like a ton of bricks, her muscles tensed with the shock of the revelation, she looked at Legolas in the hope he hadn't noticed. The elf was busy talking to Gandalf and Aragorn. Eruanna relaxed and looked at the hobbits who had fallen asleep on the cold stone floor. Gimli was not paying attention to anyone, he had shrunk into himself. Seeing what had happened to his kin would hurt. Eruanna understood his loss but she couldn't understand his grief, he couldn't have been able to help.

"We best be moving, it's a four-day journey to the other side." Gandalf said, and stood. Legolas got up and helped her to her feet, once again taking her weight, the hobbits stirred and eventually they all set off down the long, dark, rancid corridors.

* * *

Walking became easier as her leg healed and Eruanna began reluctantly to loosen her grip on Legolas. Gandalf was giving a lecture on mines, and the hobbits seemed content listening, the other members of the fellowship seemed to want to remain quiet so Eruanna let go of Legolas and walked ahead, her leg ached a bit but the pain had gone.

"Lucky, I heal fast" she thought. From what she knew of the mines the main resource was mithril. Mithril in Termoree had the value of a loaf of bread for one barrel of it. When her family moved across the sea in their banishment, they had brought tonnes of it with them. It had made them richer than any dwarf could have dreamed.

"Yet my people have no need for wealth." Eruanna thought. She stopped at the top of a staircase and waited for the others to catch up. When they finally did Gandalf sat down complaining that he did not remember the right passage.

"How is your leg?" Legolas whispered.

"Fine. I can walk on it well enough, though it is still a little sore." Eruanna confessed.

"If it gets any worse I'm happy to help." The elf replied playfully.

"You may regret that, elf." Eruanna said grinning.

"Will I? I quite enjoy seeing you need someone's help." He answered. She glowered at him before settling herself on one of the steps, watching a small scrawny creature crawling around in the darkness below. She smiled in amusement. The creature was worn and ragged, its ribs and spine protruded in unhealthy angles and it rasped for breath as it circled below. Its plight was laughable.

"Why didn't you help straight away?" Boromir asked, settling himself beside her before offering a drink.

"Unlike you, I know what that beast was. Its kind preyed upon mine when I lived in Termoree." she explained. "I value my life above all other things, besides, you seemed to be doing a marvelous job of pissing it off without my help." Eruanna answered bluntly, taking a small sip of water and handing the skin back.

"You're hiding something." Boromir said coldly. She rolled her eyes at this accusation.

"As is everyone here, we all have our secrets Boromir. If we didn't keep them to ourselves then our enemies would easily win us over." Eruanna retorted angrily.

"My father is a good man, he told me the same thing." Boromir said slowly.

"All men are good in their children's eyes, I would know." she responded and with a nod from Boromir she continued. "My father was a tyrant and no matter what he did I would always justify it for him." Eruanna told him grudgingly.

"What changed your mind?" Boromir asked, eyes filled with curiosity in the darkness.

"I saw the damage he was doing to others and I couldn't be a part of it." she muttered. The man frowned as though he could not make sense of this new idea.

"What happened to him?" Eruanna glanced at him.

"He was murdered." She responded automatically.

"By whom?" Boromir interjected.

"If I told you that, I would have to kill you." Eruanna said mechanically, fiddling with her blade. Their conversation was cut off by Gandalf, who stood up and began to make his way towards the entrance before remembering the rest of the company.

"It's that way." he told them nodding towards the middle passage.

* * *

It had been three days since they had entered the mines and now they were all sprawled out, exhausted from the hard day's walking. Eruanna re-bandaged her leg. There was a deep scar down the front, angry and red but healed enough to be of use once more. They hadn't risked lighting a fire so there was no chance of getting warm. She wrapped a blanket tightly round her form and studied the small room they were occupying, it contained nothing of great interest. A few stone columns held up the ceiling, though it looked as if they were ready to give up and collapse. There were a few carvings on the wall opposite but most of the wall was chipped and worn away. There was a very ornate tapestry, torn around the edges but still in good condition considering the rest of the room. She went over and studied it with interest. It depicted a great dwarf king upon his throne under a mountain, the next piece showed a city in flames, then a giant dragon asleep upon a mound of gold and lastly a great battle and the dragon slain. She traced the threads of the fallen dragon before letting her eyes rest on the king's face.

"Erebor. Once the greatest dwarf kingdom ever known." Legolas said coming up to look at it. "What happened?" she asked.

"You don't know?" he sounded surprised then confused, his whole face filled with disappointment as though something had happened but he could not quite remember . "Your people fought along side ours, though they arrived very late... I believe you were leading."

"It must have slipped my notice." she said dryly, "I have fought so many it burrs into one... I do remember meeting you in a battle and we... No, that was a dream, pray, refresh my memory, it's been a while since it's been used.."

"Erebor was a rich mine and the King Under the Mountain amassed lots of gold. It was attacked by a dragon named Smaug, he destroyed the town of dale and took Erebor for his own." Legolas told her pausing momentarily to gather the facts.

"Go on. I don't believe I have heard this tale...are you sure I was there?" Eruanna replied, "If it has a dragon, I want to hear the story. You know I have a soft spot for all things fire breathing, i'm sure i'd remember a dragon on the battle field...." He smiled at her, shaking his head before continuing.

"The king's grandson decided to reclaim their homeland. For that they needed the Arkenstone which could unite the dwarf leaders. Then they would march on the mountain." Legolas said gravely.

"I suppose it didn't exactly go to plan." Eruanna observed,hiding her lie with a small smirk and running her fingers over the bright white gem depicted in fine silks, "I'm guessing they all died heroically, their names lived on and that was their secret master plan."

"No one plans to die in battle." Legolas answered disapprovingly.

"I plan to die in battle, preferably screaming that the enemy are useless cur... but I see now, they reclaimed their homeland but lost their king … how ironic" she chuckled. The elf raised an eyebrow.

"Many died." he pointed out.

"Yes, and the one who wanted the throne died trying to defend it though it was already lost, I cannot deny that I find it amusing, though melancholy." She thought out loud.

"You wouldn't say that if that was the purpose of your battle." Legolas reminded her.

"It wasn't my battle and if it was I would have won. Actually I wouldn't have lost the mountain to a overgrown snake in the first place, they really are quite easy to kill, not that I ever have to, they usually do what I tell them." The elf sighed and turned away leaving her to study the tapestry. She watched the Legolas for some time. He sat very quietly fiddling with an arrow. It was only then she allowed herself some sentiment.

* * *

_Sighing Eruanna brushed away a stray strand of hair from her face. The meeting of her father and the elven king seemed to go on and on. At seven it was hard to recognise the importance of such a treaty but she was trying with all her might to listen to what her father was saying and learn the affairs of her papa's kingdom. It was soon too boring for her to stay still so she snuck away to play by herself. The summer day was bright and a light breeze blew through the long grass. She ran a fair distance into the wood before she stopped by a pool to watch the fascinating fish swim among the rocks, Eruanna buried herself in a small amount of reeds so as not to be found and settled down to watch. It was a rarity indeed to be let out of her father's sight, after her mother's death, but at such a young age she didn't fully understand the reasons. She heard a splash in the water and all the fish vanished. Looking up she saw a small elf sitting at the edge of a pool, throwing rocks into the water. She wriggled out from the reeds and glowered irritably at him. He poked his tongue out and leaped over the small rocks to where she sat._

_"You're in my clearing. No one is allowed in my clearing, you'll have to leave." He said sitting crossed legs in front of her._

_"You'll have to make me." she replied letting her eyes meet his. The two sat unblinking staring one another down. He blinked before she did. "I win! She squealed delightedly. "You'll have to leave!"_

_The little elf didn't move but snapped back, "My ada is the king and he won't let you do this." Eruanna thought for a moment before shooting an equally angry answer back._

_"Well my Papa's a king too and he could defeat yours ten times over." Both children stood up glaring at one another furiously. Then the elf giggled and sat down._

_"I'm Legolas, who are you?" he asked._

_"Eruanna." she sniffed defiantly "and this is still my spot"._

_"We could share" the elfling said thoughtfully. Both giggled at the ridiculous idea. "Nana wants me to meet the princess. I'm scared she won't like me." he said blushing._

_"She does. Very much" she laughed smiling at him, the little elfling beamed at her as if he had been given a great present._

_"I like you too." Legolas whispered._

* * *

Eruanna watched the elf now, he looked so careworn in contrast to the beaming carefree child she had once known. She sat beside him.

"Do you remember the first time we met?" she asked after a few moments, settling herself beside him and tugging on the feathers in his arrow.

"I can't forget it… it's still my clearing." he replied, the mischievous glimmer lit up in his eyes.

"Is not." Eruanna muttered. A small falorn look crossed his face then something close to a smirk appeared as he poked her with the tip of the arrow.

"I believe that you left the forest so it now belongs to me." he argued, grinning as she jumped with surprise.

"I did not want to leave." She sighed.

"Then why did you?" Legolas questioned.

"My father saw our friendship as inappropriate for a future queen, he thought I was too attached to you." she informed him.

"And where you attached to me?" the elf asked curiously, drawing a light blush from his companion.

"Maybe a little." Eruanna confessed. She saw a small smile flicker across his face. "You should smile more, it suits you." she pointed out.

"As should you. I have not seen you smile for a long time." he retorted. "I've missed your company Eruanna, of all the people I was warned to be careful of, you where the one I couldn't stay away from, why is that?" he asked.

"You crave adventure. You know it is what I am capable of delivering." Eruanna answered logically. He looked thoughtful for a long while before wandering over to wake the next lookout. His behavior was strange; he had not done as she had expected and started another argument with her. He had left her answer as the last word.

* * *

The light from Gandalf staff did very little to honor the real glory of the dwarven city. Great pillars spread as far as the eye could see, rising up with a brilliant strength in wonder to its creators. The company halted in admiration and gazed upon the wondrous scene. Gandalf, began to tell the tale of the city when, with a cry, Gimli ran off into a side room. Eruanna glanced at the elf beside her, he shook his head in disbelief and they followed. Inside the room, corpses scattered the floor, a tomb was centred in the middle of the room. Gimli sank to his knees and wept.

"Here lies Balin son of Fundin, he is dead then." said Gandalf with quiet sadness, picking up a book off the floor he began to read.

"They have taken the bridge and the second hall. We have barred the gates but cannot hold them for long. The ground shakes. Drums… drums in the deep. We cannot get out. A Shadow moves in the dark. We cannot get out...They are coming."

Legolas looked worried. Then a sound sent ice running up her back.

"Drums in the deep." Eruanna repeated, spinning on her heels.

Then the others heard it. Drawing her sword, Eruanna faced the door and waited. The others hurried round her she stayed still waiting. Just waiting.

Eruanna's mind went blank. She knew only her enemy, the sounds of the others faded to a dim echo. The orcs and goblins beat at the doors. Eruanna whirled her sword round in anticipation.

The doors burst open and she crouched, waiting as the first of the orcs crashed through, her muscles tensed ready to spring. One large orc saw her, and  
lunged.

"Big mistake." Eruanna muttered and rolled between its legs she sprang up and onto its back and slit its throat, blood sprayed from its neck. Smiling with satisfaction she back flipped off the now dying creature, landing successfully in front another one. She thrust her weapon into its belly and it fell to the floor. She quickly scanned the fray about her, that was when she saw the last thing she needed. The top of the doorway crashed down as the troll forced it's way through and the smell of rotting fish filled the room. "Typical, they brought a troll." Eruanna thought before dashing over to where it was stomping around and grabbed its foot, hugging it like a child does when it doesn't want its parent to leave.

Eruanna put her sword in its sheath, "I can't believe I'm going to do this". She felt the predictable tingle of her canine teeth and bit deep into the troll's leg. The troll howled in agony. Eruanna laughed, and let go, spitting the pungent and bitter blood out. The troll staggered round, growing in pain. As she'd hoped it was allergic to venom now circling its bloodstream. She turned around just as an orc brought its foot to her shin. She howled in pain and fell to the floor. The orc dragged her to her feet and she felt a cold blade pressed her neck.

"Stop if you want her to live." the gravelly voice of her captor rasped, a hand pulled out her sword and cast it aside. She collected herself and breathed deeply to control the surging pain. Quietly lifting up her leg injured leg, Eruanna reached into her boot and pulled out her hunting knife. She slid it behind her, carefully positioning it and pushing. The screech of pain from the orc deafened her for a moment. She turned to see the orc pull the dagger from his groin. Eruanna lunged for her sword, sliding agonizingly across the rubble, as an arrow whistled past into the orc who was now howling and in an enraged frenzy. Looking up at Legolas she nodded her thanks.

Hell raged in the chamber. With a sickening jolt, she stood up shakily and gazed around at the scene emerging before realizing that there was no escape. Hiding behind a pillar Eruanna saw a weak point in the wall. She staggered back to the troll and slashed at its body. The troll growled and sent her sprawling into the wall so the stone shattered around her. Groaning she rolled onto her back and lay there, catching her breath before re-joining the battle.

Weapons clashed against weapons, Eruanna found herself trapped in a corner. She bent double with the pain of hitting the wall. Hissing like a feral cat at the oncoming goblins, bearing her teeth menacingly she gave in to her animatistic instincts. She heard shouts all around and saw the enormous build of the troll fall. Gritting her teeth she cut off the nearest head lurching violently at another. Aid came to her quickly. Though it seemed too late for Frodo…


	10. Why Does It Always Have To Be Orcs

Frodo lay face down in the rubble, a spear under him. Eruanna watched as the others went over to him, believing he was dead. She listened closely to every sound a small beat of life was coming from Frodo, a soft groan of pain. Eruanna knew in that second, he was alive, no corpse ever made such a sound. Aragorn scooped him into his arms. They all thought that he was dead, she began to jump around in irritation that no one else could see he wasn't; she started to say something, but Legolas silenced her, shaking his head. Just then the hobbit spluttered and woke. Eruanna allowed her self a smile of self-satisfaction. Aragorn put the hobbit on the floor utter relief plastered his face.

"This way!" Gandalf bellowed from the broken wall, breaking through the sighs of relief that rippled over the stone. They scrambled towards the opening like rats fleeing from an impending flood, Eruanna glanced over her shoulder; a sickening lurch inside of her as she saw the hordes of goblins behind them, she sped up.

"Maybe I should do what all my friends do in this situation: Abandon those who slow you down upon your escape." Eruanna thought, preparing to change form and fly away as fast as she could but then removed the foul idea from her mind. It was a stupid idea adopted for self-preservation which she had never been skilled at, if anything she was the one to slow them down; her leg was failing from the orc kick, her ribs burned from the bruises she had received earlier and she was having difficulty breathing. Lost in self-pity she didn't realize that the others had stopped and crashed into them, knocking Legolas's arrow from his bow, Legolas glared at her but calmly notched another arrow to his bow. They were surrounded. Down the grand stone pillars scuttled their foes. They were totally outnumbered.  _but they aren't attacking._

"Well, it was nice knowing you all, but i really must vanish now..." Eruanna announced cheerily, summoning her magic and focusing on invisibility. Nothing happened. Not even a slight change in her skin. "Ah... bollocks.We looks like i'm going to die fighting side by side with a bunch of morons." The others glowered at her with annoyance and for a moment she vanished from their sight. Eruanna whooped with glee before her magic failed again and left her standing very close to a serrated edged goblin knife. Its owner was tiny, not much bigger than Frodo and Eruanna bit back a laugh as she pulled at the end of the blade and held it above her head to the Goblin wriggled furiously on the end of it.

"Well aren't you just adorable... Legolas, can I keep him... He looks like you only smaller and prettier! " she joked, nervously backing away from the advancing crowd. Legolas was managing a small pout at his lost dignity while Gimli managed a nervous laugh. 

  
The others had their weapons drawn and ready, but Eruanna felt a chill run down her back and she turned to see light rippling over the walls at the far end of the hall. A sound like thunder echoed round the hall, and the orcs fled back up into the cracks on the ceiling from whence they came.

"What is this new devilry?" Boromir hissed. Before Gandalf said the words, Eruanna knew. It was hell on legs. It was the thing that her kind had been created from and it was the darkest nightmare off all living creatures. It was a Balrog. She knew this because of Glorfindel. He had shown her books with them in when she was living in Rivendell in her exile, she'd seen one too, not knowing its name nor fearing it, but in a different time and a different world with different people surrounding her… and dying for her. She shuddered in revulsion at the thought of her lost innocence. The day a Balrog had attacked Xura would be remembered for as long as they lived by the few who had survived, but never spoken of.

  
She followed the company hurriedly, down and down she ran, stair after stair. Eruanna reached a gap in the stairs and stopped. Looking down she saw utter blackness. She could jump the gap easily, But it was that intensity of black, the unknown bottom, that unnerved her… if she lost her footing she would be left to lay upon some cold floor for all eternity unable to move and unable to die. Legolas reached her and whispered in her ear:

"I'll catch you," before jumping nimbly across. She jumped and landed on the other side, her left foot slipping on the edge. Legolas grabbed her, and pulled Eruanna into his arms. "He smells of wood blossom and pine cones" her heart cheered delightedly, "Now is not the time" her mind screamed back. Legolas let go and helped Gandalf across. The others soon followed. They ran on frantically before reaching the bridge. She let the others cross well aware of their fragile bodily state.

"Go in front of me, Eruanna, I will slow you down." Gandalf said. Eruanna frowned, he was planning something, she refused to move, planted her feet squarely on the ground, ready to stand with the wizard. Then the shape sprang up out of the blackness, her blood ran cold and she backed away across the bridge, calling to the wizard to follow. Gandalf turned to see it. The Balrog placed its mighty forked foot on the stone.

"You cannot pass!" Gandalf cried banging his staff on the bridge. Eruanna watched in amazement as the seemingly frail wizard, bellowed at the beast. Her eyes caught sight of the cracks forming across the bridge. She opened her mouth to call out and warn him but no sound came out. The bridge split in two, sending the Balrog into the thick back of the gorge. Gandalf turned to walk away, relief falling upon his brow. Then a fiery whip curled up around Gandalf's leg. Time began to slow down, Eruanna watched in horror as the beast dragged him down into the depths. She heard herself scream a word vaguely familiar and white light flashed momentary above them, the ceiling began to topple and the ground shook. In Eruanna's mind all she knew faded in that moment, she did not want to believe what she had seen. Yet it had happened. Frodo was yelling, the others running up the stairs to the door. Legolas called to her. Her mind snapped back into the present, letting go of her disbelief she ran up the staircase, ignoring the pain in her chest. Once outside, still shaking, she let the elf hold her into his chest. She didn't feel the grief that should have been clawing at her heart, in its place a violent ire was stirring. She hugged Legolas tightly, hoping to comfort him as well as control the seething rage within, knowing that if she did not she was likely to do something rash. She never knew the wizard well and regret filled her heart for she had wanted to learn from his wisdom.  _"He was a fool"_ she told herself calmly.

"Legolas, get them up." Aragorn said gently.

"Give them a moment for pity's sake!" cried Boromir, Aragorn shook his head.

"By nightfall these hills will be swarming with Orcs. We must reach the woods of Lothlórien. Come, Boromir, Legolas, Gimli, and Eruanna, help them up." Legolas let go of her reluctantly, and pulled Merry and Pippin to their feet. Eruanna did not move. Aragorn began to move on the others followed. Legolas held out his hand to her and she took it, seeking the comfort of another.

* * *

 

After an hour they stopped to rest. Eruanna went alone to collect firewood. Once out of sight of the others she slumped down in despair. She recalled her five year old self standing in Xura's market square as it burned, a great beast looming above the town spire. The white stone bashed black and she could hear screaming all around. Yet she stood in wild fascination at the beast called from the shadows. It was then her eldest sister had come running, clad in armor she had scooped her up into her arms and wordlessly deposited her outside the walls of the city before going back to face the monster. She had waited for days upon the gate for any news of her sibling but none could be given. The beast had been slain but so many had died. There was no word of the firstborn daughter of Amreral ever again. As far as anyone was concerned she had been slain by the monster sent to their lands as a punishment for betraying their masters. Eruanna dragged her mind back to the present and went about gathering wood for the fire. Frodo had miraculously escaped with a minor bruise. Sam had a small graze that Aragorn had decided needed treating but surprisingly no one was seriously hurt save their lost party member.

Eruanna heard the snapping of twigs behind her and she slowly drew her sword, whirling round. She held the blade to Boromir's throat, breath drawn in ragged breaths from the sudden spike of adrenaline.

"You should know better than to sneak up on a naira, didn't your nursemaid tell you stories of what happens if you do?" Eruanna snapped.

"I'm sorry if I startled you. I was told such stories though you have neither enchanted me or sucked out my soul so I don't know if I should believe them to be true or not." the man answered holding up his hands submissively.

"You should be careful Boromir. Not all of my kind is as controlled or as tolerant as I am." she informed him lowering the sword. He let out a soft relived sigh and smiled gratefully at her.

"I would not want to bump into another of your kin if you are one of the better ones." he mused starkly.

"If you had met another of my kind you would have been torn to pieces." Eruanna remarked frankly. He nodded and offered him an arm to pile firewood into.

"You shouldn't wander away from the group, especially when we are in such peril." he commented.

"Who are you to say what I can and cannot do? If I wish to be alone and away from the ignorance of all things male, I will take myself somewhere I can think." Eruanna responded spitefully. The man looked offended but said nothing more on the matter.

Once they had enough wood the wandered back to the small disheveled group, rain began to trickle down upon the deflated party. They soon put out the fire, no one really felt like eating and the wind made it difficult to keep it alight. Aragorn began giving orders and attempting some form of leadership in the group but Eruanna was in no mood to humor him so she set off along the road to wait for them to catch up.

* * *

 

No one spoke for grief consumed them. Eruanna could see the golden leaves up ahead and the dread of returning to the forest she had fled began to build up within her. Her mind and heart where in total agreement "Run…RUN!" they screamed but her legs did not listen and staggered on. Under the leaves the rain eased to a soft drip and then stopped altogether. The rest of the company's spirits seemed lifted a little at the prospect of a long rest.

The further they went into Loren, the more uncomfortable Eruanna became. The naira glanced around her, expecting to see elves with ropes ready to tie her up and chain her to the forest so she could never leave again, but no such thing happened. She knew this place well, before Rivendell it had been Loren. The light filtered through the leaves of the trees, Eruanna heard the soft distinctive breathing of Elves, more than one... more than ten. The sound of bow stings being tightened tore through the air.

"The dwarf breaths so loud, we could have shot him in the dark." said a melodic voice. Eruanna felt a sad smile form on her lips, how well she knew that voice.

"Haldir." she said brightly, turning to see her old friend. The elves lowered their bows when they saw her but gave her nervous glances.

"Well, well, well, of all the people I thought never to see again, Eruanna." Haldir cooed in his smooth voice.

"Let us pass, Haldir, we will be of no bother to you, move." Eruanna said, and added "Or I'll make you." Haldir smiled, his small blush did not pass unnoticed by her keen eye however.

"As her highness wishes, follow me, I will take you somewhere you can stay tonight." He quipped, enjoying the scowl he received wile the other elves shifted nervously. She watched their retreating forms for a moment before turning to the stunned company. 

"Come on." Eruanna sighed reluctantly, it had not exactly been what she wanted, she had hoped to just pass through without attracting attention but that wan't going to happen."They say we can stay here tonight."

Gimli looked horrified, he began to stamp his feet like a disobedient child and she found her disliking for him increase ever so slightly and she began to wonder how attached he was to his beard.

"What?! You mean we are to sleep in this elf infested forest? I won't do it. It's bad enough with one elf let alone and entire city of them!" he moaned. Eruanna turned round, her eyes burning with icy fire.

"You know what dwarf? This is the last place I want to be too, last time I was here, I made more enemies than friends. I'm putting myself  at risk doing this; so you can bloody well put up with it and if I hear another word I will gladly disembowel you and wear your beard as a scarf." She snarled. The dwarf stepped back, hugging his beard protectively, glaring at Legolas, who was trying not to laugh. The hobbits looked up at her with confusion, while Aragorn and Boromir had taken up arms behind them. Eruanna glanced at them apologetically before chasing after the group of Elves who were already disappearing into the forest.

* * *

 

Once they had reached the encampment, the others flopped exhausted on the ground. Eruanna silently left. Walking through the forest the oppressive feeling of being watched lifted off her shoulders but only a little. Once she reached a clearing, far enough away not to be disturbed, she sat down by the stream.

"Hastulian." Eruanna whispered, and breathed a cold breath across the surface of the water, a picture appeared and she saw her friends, dancing on a hill, laughing gaily. Centaurs milled round the dancers smiling and talking. The fey glittered in the trees around the hill. Smiling grimly with satisfaction that her homelands were at peace she waved away the image in the water.

"They are safe and far away in the lands they should be in." Eruanna said to herself.

"But you aren't." came a soft voice. Eruanna jumped before looking over her shoulder to where she saw Haldir resting against a tree. "I see you got your powers." he stated, but it sounded more like a question. Not meeting his eyes, Eruanna replied.

"Yes, that happened a long time ago." There was a long and awkward silence between them. She looked away from the scrutiny of his gaze.

"Why did you leave me, was I not good enough for you?" Haldir asked sternly yet there was no hate in his voice.

"I did not love you, but I could not tell you. I was afraid it would hurt you too much." she whispered, shame washing over her. Haldir walked over to her and sat down.

"You left, because you didn't love me, or you couldn't?" he asked tipping his head back so he could look at the stars.

"Both." Eruanna said bluntly "I couldn't and wouldn't, I'm sorry. I was never yours to begin with." Haldir looked at her, pain filling his pure eyes.

"You're lying, your eyes change colour when you lie." he said defensively.

"I was in love with someone else and still am." Eruanna said, trying to stop the questions. Haldir snorted, his silver grey eyes sparkled.

"Fine. Who is he?" he said angrily.

"I've told you the truth. Stop fishing for dreams Haldir, you can't catch them." Eruanna spat.

"At least allow me the liberty of a name?" he answered calmly.

"I can't give you his name." she said shaking her head. "What happened to me?" she asked "I never used to hate everyone. I used to believe in friends, but know I don't feel anything." she sighed. Haldir smiled

"You grew up, Eruanna, you saw things that hurt, that's what happened." Eruanna shook her head

"I grew up before I was born, I never had a childhood." She whispered.

"Maybe that's why you struggle with trusting others, but your past makes you who you are. Few can or could endure what you have without being affected, come forget about this, tomorrow is a new day and you are needed to speak with my lord and lady." he said.

"I was affected a lot. I am afraid to sleep for the nightmares that take me. I cannot look my friends in the eyes without remembering the screams that I suffered for them." Eruanna mumbled.

"There is no shame in sacrifice." Haldir chided.

"That's not what I was taught." she sighed going back at the stream.

"I know little of your past Eruanna but I know what I see." He said thoughtfully.

"And what do you see?" she asked.

"I see someone who has seen war and death, who has suffered torment and sorrow. I see someone who is haunted by the past and is drowning in her memories. I see someone who loathes themselves but hides it by pretending she doesn't need anyone, to the pint of her believing it along with everyone else. All she really wants is someone to tell her that she is not alright and she is not alone. Now tell me Eruanna. Are you really alright?" Haldir stated, studying her intensely with the grey spirals of his eyes.

She did not respond for a long time.

"I saw children ripped apart, and you ask me if I'm alright?" Eruanna said slowly. The elf nodded. "I'm fine." she answered.

"Then why do you shut out those who desire to help?" he questioned.

"I will only get them killed if I let them aid me." she whispered, her cheeks flushing with shame. Haldir walked over to her and settled beside her.

"You think that because of one mistake, anyone who trusts you will end up in the same state as you and those who committed an act of betrayal?" he asked.

"No. Anyone who trusted me always ends up dead. I cannot let anyone get that close, not anymore." She responded.

"Then why are you telling me this?" Haldir queried.

"Because I want to be close to others to know what it is to have another's faith and not to be shunned by everyone." she responded. Haldir was silent. She studied the blank expression for a long time before standing.

"Don't shut out those who love you Eruanna. It is a lonely world when you have no one to care for you." Haldir said as she retreated back through the trees.

"Who would be stupid enough to love me?" she thought, gazing up at the moon as if for an answer.  _No one._  It seemed to answer and Eruanna retreated into the bitterness within her heart again. _  
_


	11. Heart, Mind and Water Fights

After a peaceful night in Calas Galadhon, the fellowship went off in groups or on their own to explore the golden wood. Eruanna wandered alone enjoying her own company and the relief of not being scrutinised that solitude brought with it. Legolas had taken Gimli for a small tour of the nearby sights. The hobbits had also gone to find out more about the wood. Aragorn and Boromir had stayed behind to decide on routes to take.

After a few hours she became bored and set off for the direction of the march warden's camp. She sang to pass the time, the forest did not interest her and she had lived here for a time and had been shown every tree and leaf, every stream and spring. The forest brought back memories of when war was exiting and new to her.

The sound of laughter drifted upon the warm breeze. It was almost childlike in its careless delight. She rounded the corner and the laughter was accompanied by splashing.

"I thought elves had good balance?" She called out, grinning at the sodden Haldir who now sat in a swirling stream. Above him a broken branch swung limply, the other elves smiled at her nervously and looked at Haldir for what seemed like reassurance.

"I don't bite." Eruanna giggled, flicking her wrist and sending a small wave of cold water over her friend who was struggling to stand. He splashed her back, grinning.

"I believe Eruanna has challenged us to a fight." He declared. The other elves smirked. Eruanna nodded at the water and it sloshed over the nearest elf who glowered at her before picking up the nearest bucket and pouring it over her.

"I also thought elves where supposed to be mature." She giggled, splashing another of the guards who had seemed inclined to join in.

"Are you saying such combat is not appropriate for our age?" Haldir asked, splashing her playfully. She grinned at him.

"What do you think?" she answered before commanding another wave of water to douse the entire group.

* * *

The woods where a marvel to behold, even for one who loved the ground and all its treasures. Legolas had been telling him the full story of Nimrodel when he had stopped mid sentence, Gimli was glad of it, he had not had time to comprehend all that had been said and this pause allowed his thoughts to catch up. His companion had seemed to become more and more distracted the further he had got into his story and had stopped abruptly. The dwarf waited patiently for some minutes for the story to be continued but Legolas had seemed to have forgotten he was there.

"What happened, did they ever hear news of her after that?" He prompted gruffly. Legolas looked at him and smiled faintly before shaking his head. The dwarf thought that he would elaborate but he remained silent. The dwarf looked up to see a curious expression on his face. It was a mixture of wistfulness and confusion but he could not understand why and it made him uneasy.

"Is something troubling you elf?" he asked after a few more minutes science.

Legolas did not answer for a long time; "Do you have a sweetheart Gimli?" he inquired at length. Stunned the dwarf stopped and stared at him baffled at his forwardness. The elf stopped and looked back at him.

"Well?" he persisted.

"Aye, I do." the dwarf mumbled embarrassed. The wistful look was back in the elf's eyes.

"Does she love you?" he mused out loud.

"Yes… Is something wrong Legolas?" Gimli said warily. The elf looked mournfully down at the floor and said nothing.

"What about you? Do you have someone you care about waiting for you in your homelands?" Gimli asked carefully. He saw the anguish then in his eyes and regretted asking.

"No. My heart belongs to one who is not from my lands." he answered softly.

"And her heart belongs to you?" Gimli enquired.

"Her heart belongs to no one but herself." Legolas replied bitterly.

"Ah, then it is your heart that troubles you." Gimli said kindly. The elf smiled sadly and nodded.

It was the sound of laughter reached them and curiosity drove them both to investigate.

"So, who is this young maid you seem so preoccupied with?" Gimli asked inquisitively. Legolas once again didn't answer. He stood watching the scene playing out in front of him. His expression was one of pure jealousy. He watched as a group of guards threw water over one another. Up in the tree Eruanna sat grinning as several of the younger elves attempted unsuccessfully to coax her back down. A tall blonde elf who Gimli presumed as Haldir threw water over her; she attempted to dodge it but slipped and fell out of the tree. Wriggling as Haldir held her down to stop her exacting revenge."Ah" Gimli thought pulling on Legolas's arm to try and drag him away. Reluctant as he was the elf complied followin him though the tree's, glancing forlornly over his shoulder in the direction of the water fight.

"Now you see why I am troubled." Legolas sighed after they could no longer hear the shouts coming from the stream.

"You do not think she loves you?" Gimli asked a little too harshly as it brought back the ache in the elf's eyes.

"What am I to her? She has the choice of so many. She is a princess-" he started.

"You are a prince." Gimli interrupted. Legolas smiled grimly.

"Yet we are not of the same race and my father has deemed her kin to be savages, even if she could love me it would never be allowed." he argued.

"Yet you are suffering because of it." Gimli countered.

"It matters not. My father would have me marry a noble eleth and would not hear of anything else. It is only a matter of time before he tires of my stubbornness to marry." the elf murmured.

"Tell her. Even if she does not return your feelings you both have a good friendship, that is clear enough. She will understand." Gimli advised warmly.

"You will not speak of this to anyone else will you?" Legolas asked.

"No. I swear that this will remain between us." Gimli promised, hoping he would honor it till his last breath.

* * *

The sun was setting over Loren, the first stars here faintly glimmering in the sky, birds where flying home to tuck their heads beneath their downy wings. Beneath the trees of the golden wood it was a different story, Elves danced beneath lamps strung to branches of the trees, the light reflecting of the leaves, bathing the city of Calas Galadhon in light.  
Eruanna sat beneath a tree, fuming. Not only had she been forced to the dance but being female, she had to wear a dress. If there was a more oppressive thing she had not yet discovered it.

"Ah Eruanna… You look delightful!" Haldir teased.

"One more word and I will see that you shall not speak again." Eruanna hissed.

"You always did have a way with words." he retorted smugly before holding out his hand and helping her to her feet.

"I'm not dancing." Eruanna protested as he dragged her over to the other couples.

"Yes you are." Haldir answered.

"I don't know how!" she snapped.

"Then it's high time you learned." Haldir told her. Shaking her head, Eruanna grudgingly allowed herself to be lead around the small area designated for dancing. She glanced over to see Legolas dancing with a young elf. Feeling a pang of jealousy when she looked away, she was clearly interested in him and they seemed a good match. The elf maid lent up to kiss him. Legolas flinched and pushed her away. The maid's eyes filled with hurt and Legolas slipped off the dance floor and disappeared behind another group of maidens. She could not help but feel smug and as they passed the dejected maid, Eruanna grinned spitefully at her.

"Stop teasing her Eruanna." Haldir muttered into her ear.

"But it's so fun." Eruanna complained. Haldir dropped her arms. Glaring at her the march warden wandered over to the girl before taking her up to dance. Unfazed the Naira settled herself by the food and began to help herself. Eruanna turned her attention to the hobbits, who were listening to the elven fairy tales. She heard Rumil calling her over; she stepped out of her hiding place and went over to see what he wanted.

"My Lady Eruanna, will you sing for us this night?" the young Elf said looking hopeful, Eruanna felt her heart warm to him but she was in no mood for singing.

"No Rumil. My heart is not in it." Eruanna sighed, the elves thought the children of the night must have hidden talents such as song, but narian singing was harsh on the ears and the gathering would not enjoy it.

Tiring of the party she hurried away to where the clothes she had hidden beneath a tree lay and quickly changed. Without a second thought for her companions she strapped the  bow and quiver Haldir had lent her to her back, and buckled her sword to her waist. Eruanna began to run.

The thoughts she was starting to have where not pleasant. She was supposed to be hunting but the chanting in her head was too much and she sank to her knees and let the visions wash over her, the poem that was whispered through Termoree pounding at her. "Not now. Not when I was recovering." was the last thing Eruanna thought before the visions crashed over her.

When the darkness of her mind cleared she sat up slowly, the vision had been a brutal one, usually it made her dizzy but never before had it knocked her unconscious. Moving slowly, Eruanna crawled to a nearby tree, head was swimming and her sight blurred. Using the tree to support herself, she stood. After a minute her sight returned. Blood tricked from her nose, Eruanna mopped it up with the back of her hand. Noting how she stank of sweat, she went in search of a far river to bathe in. Once she had found one deep enough Eruanna undressed, unaware that she was being followed.

 

Boromir had followed Eruanna from the dance, concerned that she looked distracted and looked to be planning mischief. He saw her fall to the ground and cry out in her own tongue but he had not known what to do, for a moment he had frozen, remembering her thinly veiled threats when Aragorn had tried to help her earlier. When she stood, he followed her to a river hiding behind a tree he watched her undress. The corn coloured hair rippled down her back resting on her shoulder blades. The pale skin of her back puckered repulsively from the scars she bore. Boromir longed for her company, for some recognition that he had her respect. _You deserve respect._ He looked around for the sharp whispering that intruded his thoughts but he didn't see it.  _She has been punished in the past for her lack of respect, teach her._

He could not deny that even with scars she had an air about her that was oddly inviting.  There was a strong pull to her and his judgment was struggling to hold on. The voice egging him to test her true worth, find out what she wanted and become the hero of the group.

"I should not be doing this, it is wrong to spy on her; I have done so once and it almost cost me my life, this time it could be far worse. She doesn’t need my help." Boromir thought as he turned back to watch, but he could not help himself, the voice jeered to his, calling out names, telling him he was a coward. As he watched from behind the tree, he watched her remove her breeches, gazed upon her delicate curves and the inhuman marks on her ankles from where chains had restrained her many times over. He turned away out of shame and humility but could not bring himself to leave entirely., the voice would not allow it, its hold was too strong. He sat upon a tree root and waited, out of fascination in her changes of moods and concern that she might still be hurt.  _Take her while she has a weakness._ Boromir recoiled in horror at the thought.

As she finished removing her clothing, Eruanna sensed someone nearby and assumed she was being watched. More than that she could hear soft uncomfortable rustling and the smell of nervous perspiration. Whoever it was afraid. Her first thought was to hide in the cold depths and wait for them to leave but then she reconsidered.There was a darker presence too and she thought that if she changed her mind, her position may be compromised. Instead of hiding she slipped into the icy depths, letting it submerge her body. Swimming round to a hidden outlet she scrambled out of the depths. Her ears straining to hear the dark whispers.  _Kill her. Do It.  "Nothing new then"_ she thought _,_ shrugging her shoulders she swam back to her clothes and carried them a short distance out of sight of the man.

Boromir stood up again, impatient to see if she was done so he could question her on her motives for leaving the party and escape the whispering in his ear. To his surprise there was no one there. In the brief moment he had looked away, all trace of her had vanished. There was a tightening in his throat as the voice howled in rage.  _Fool! She'll kill you now._ The hair on the back of his neck raised as he spun around, his breathing shallow with a new kind of fear. He was being hunted. Trembling he pressed his back up against a tree and closed his eyes, praying his death would be swift. He felt a cold blade press into his gut, twisting extracting a small wave of pain, and an even colder voice whispered "Enjoying the view, Boromir? I thought men of Gondor new better."

"I-I'm sorry" Boromir stuttered, immediately aware of the steel creating droplets of blood that were soaking his tunic, he opened his eyes to see her slink around the back of the tree, smirking dangerously.

"Its not safe to be out ere all alone, especially when monsters are on the prowl." Eruanna said softly, digging the knife deeper as her words came out like that of a snakes hiss.

“I was merely concerned that you were hurt so I followed, I never meant to spy.”

"Is that so, or perhaps you had other ideas, after all, my kind aren’t known for our fidelity. I will let you off this time with just this,” she slashed the blade harshly across his leg and smiled sweetly at him as he grunted in pain, “but if you ever try anything that I do not like, You will sleep, just not with me." Eruanna said, her eyes challenging him. She lowered the blade, licking the blood of it with a wicked smile then sheathed it, sniffing with mild displeasure at the man’s grateful bow.

The man turned to leave before turning back, Eruanna raised an eyebrow questioningly, her eyes not fully on him but the dark shadow that was following him at a distance. It was unnatural and disturbing, maybe there was some truth to the mans purpose but also something darker than just him.  _We all have our demons._

“Can we not mention this to the others?” he asked eventually, his face flushing as he lowered his eyes. Eruanna considered every possibility. There was a slight chance the man was not himself and she was not one for false gossip.

“To what purpose would that serve? I do not wish to make your life miserable, let us say that you _were_ in fact concerned about me and didn’t mean to spy… then I am grateful for that concern but it is unnecessary, I do not need it nor want it, we are just allies if you must call it something, not friends and certainly nothing more than that.”

“I thought we were starting to understand one another?” Boromir stated, smiling in hope. She snorted in mild disgust at the idea, a man and a naira with an understanding was absurd. 

“My heart belongs to no one but myself, if your intentions are to win it, then I fear you must contend with others who are already ahead of you.” Eruanna replied, squeezing water from her hair.

“You mean Legolas?”

“No. Legolas is nothing more than a good friend, he has not stated an interest but there are others who have; some I might even consider being a suitable mate but you still have a lot to be desired.”

Boromir frowned and began to argue but she would hear no more of it. Men where easily won over by woman and their hearts easily swayed, she would settle for nothing less than her equal and the son of gondor would never be that. Sullenly the man left, the shape that followed him slinking after and with it, all menace in the air.

Eruanna watched the shrinking form of Boromir for some time until he had disappeared in the thick undergrowth before heading in the same direction. It was still early and the sun was still young. The birds sung faintly in the leaves above as sunlight flitted down in small strands like tiny feathers all around.

"Poor Boromir, yet another man obsessed with one that is forbidden, and yet... he is brave to try," she thought, then smiled on recalling the petrified expression on the man's face when he had been caught. This was becoming an unusual day for her, most people avoided her and those that did not, often took great care not to offend her. As Eruanna mused this next thought, a deer ran out from behind a tree. A huge force collided with her and sent her sprawling in a heap. She squealed in surprise before realizing who it was. The deer ran off into the undergrowth out of sight, calling out in terror as it did so.

"Eruanna, I'm sorry" the elf apologized, scrambling to his feet and dusting himself off. Eruanna glowered at Legolas. His smile was hurting her eyes, his love of the morning still irritated her even now and it seemed too early for anything to be even thinking about waking let alone hunting. She staggered upright, dusting herself down and tugging leaves from her hair.

"What were you doing, mellonamin, trying to scare me to death?" Eruanna muttered, trying not to laugh at the elf's sudden worried expression.

"I was hunting; I find it easier to hunt in the morning when there is no one else around… why where you startled? It is not like you." he answered, automatically taking her hands into his so that she couldn’t evade questioning.

"I wasn't afraid, merely lost in thought over a small matter. Boromir was spying on me when I was bathing; he was intent on courting me, the cheek of the man." Eruanna muttered defensively, lowering her guard. Legolas's expression changed from shock to worry then to disgust before settling for concern.

"Are you alright? Did he harm you?" he asked softly, stroking her face tenderly as he had often done when they were young.

"No he did not, I knew he was there. I was the one who scared him." Eruanna said bitterly, wishing that his touch was one of affection and not merely of worry.

The elf nodded satisfied that she was fine.

"Perhaps he was merely looking for friendship.” Legolas suggested, grinning playfully at her confused expression.

“Perhaps he is stupid. You know I don’t befriend men and with good reason, they die easily.” The elf snorted and began harvesting up several arrows that had escaped his quiver when he fell.

“I heard you enjoyed hunting these woods when you were last here… Will you join me?" he asked, Eruanna felt the butterfly's rise up in her stomach momentarily before she forced them away and resumed her grim demeanor. In truth she needed the exercise and it had been too long since she had last had anything of any nutritional value to drink.

"Yes, I think I will." Now it only posed the question on how she would keep Legolas distracted while she drank her fill.

"You think you will? If you wish to join me, then you better make your mind up, we have a deer to catch." Eruanna grinned, shoving him hard in the direction the deer had gone.

"Then we should not waste time talking. Catch me if you can, elf, I'm known be uncatchable, like this deer you failed to shoot." Eruanna said, trying to keep herself in check, her ears burning with embarrassment at the fond look he cast her. Legolas smirked before grabbing her hand, picked his bow up off the ground; undermining any authority and dignity she has wished it exert, before dragging her after the deer.

Come armed,  
or prepared to die.  
There is no other end to this road.  
See the blood upon your hands  
You gave them hope  
How cruel you are  
To feed false hope  
Did you really  
Think you were safe  
From harm  
Tucked away from grief  
You know there's a price to pay  
And the oaths already have been made.  
Now you must do its bidding.

Translation(s).

Mellonamin- My friend.

 


	12. Pine Wood And Honeycomb

Eruanna ran through Loren the wind whistling through her hair and the trees whizzing passed frantically. Legolas ran after her, they reached an opening in the forest, kicking up leaves as they staggered to a halt in search of their prey.

"Damn. We lost him…" She laughed, adrenaline still rushing through her body.

"Ah well" Legolas said before pounced on her "I've got something" he yelled in mock surprise. Eruanna squealed and fought him off, he wriggled free of her grip and crawled away before throwing leaves in her face. Eruanna launched another attack but he pinned her down. Soon they both lay on the ground, out of breath from laughter. He cocked his head to one side scrutinizing her, reading her as best he could, his hair fell about his shoulders like silken threads of gold sunlight despite the small clump of leaves having tangled themselves into his braids. She felt the small warmth of happiness grow and felt her cheeks redden the longer he studied her. Hiding her face in her arms to hide her embarrassment she heard him snort in amusement.

"You and Haldir seemed quite at ease with one another yesterday. Is there someone with whom I must compete with for you affection now?" He asked casually. Eruanna looked up at him stunned, feeling the butterflies die inside of her and begin to rot away.

"You think I love Haldir?" she asked, holding back the anger that threatened to erupt from her. She disliked looking back on the past and Legolas’s prying was beginning to irritate her. Once perhaps she may have liked him more than she would say but now her attentions where elsewhere and the memories buried.

"You seemed to me quite close is all I suggested" Legolas replied, smiling smugly when he saw that he had struck a nerve in her heart.

"Are you jealous?" she snapped, hoping desperately that he was and would beg her forgiveness so she could forget the subject and move on.

"Of Haldir. No. Of course not; I have a new elleth now to tell my tales to. I don't need you" he answered rolling onto his stomach and settling comfortably of the grass. His smile did not hide his own irritation and Eruanna relaxed once she realised it was all an act.

"You are jealous. I assure you, as much as I like Haldir he is far too arrogant and self-riotous for me to feel anything more than friendship towards him, he is not the one who has conquered my affections" She teased, wriggling herself into a comfortable position opposite him. He raised an eyebrow then closed his eyes momentarily to listen to the skylarks.

"So I do have competition?" he asked momentarily.

"Naturally. He is very handsome, clever and charming with hair like the dawn itself and eyes brighter than any star, I have never met a creature so perfect or kind, nor one who tolerates me so well." Eruanna answered, testing his reactions.

"He sounds dull" Legolas commented, his nose wrinkling with mild displeasure before poking her on the nose.

"On the contrary he is far more interesting than you" She exclaimed, trying to bite the offending hand. He went silent and rested his chin on his fore arms;Eruanna sighed and began to full faces to try and coax a smile from the elf with little success so she flopped back onto the earth and closed her eyes to listen to the birds. Beside her the leaves rustled and she smiled to herself, half opening one eye to see her companion mimicking her.

They lay side by side for several minutes saying nothing before Legolas finally gave in and hid a slight grin in his arm. A wicked looked passed over his face and sat up to draw a small circle in the dust.

"Do you recollect doing this as children by the pool?" he asked. The expectant look he gave her told her that her magic was needed and she waved her hand over the doodle turning the earth into a small pond.

She nodded, "You always scared away the fish because you knew I liked to watch them" she said thoughtfully, flicking some leaves into the water to represent fish;"I shouldn't have to fight a fish for you attentions, you'd argue."

He grinned, "Then I would do this to make you remember who your true friend was" he said tickling her. She pushed his off sniggering before pinning him down on the ground, splashing water in her face, she spat it back into his face and he spluttered in shock, wiping away the droplets with his sleeve. He gazed down at her with a half-smile on his lips, water still dripping from his tresses.

"What?!" she giggled, "Have I got half the forest in my hair?" He snorted and removed a few leaves that had gathered in her hair.

"You may as well have" her friend told her, grinning. Legolas sat up and she burst out into a fit of giggles for his hair was also entangled with leaves and he looked almost as bad as she did. A tear of laughter ran down her face but she made no attempt to remove it.

"Ai, I theilin in edhil teiliar" she sighed contentedly; resting back on her elbows to soak up the sun. Legolas smiled and wiped the tear away from her cheek with his thumb, he gazed into her eyes for an instant; bright blue gems searching for something that she could not understand. He lent in hesitantly, his hand cupping her cheek, his breath tickled her face, its strange scent filling her nose. Honey and mixed wines. His lips brushed hers.  For an instant her lips parted letting him take control, her eyes fluttered closed, his tongue caressed her lips momentarily before she regained her senses. She pushed him back instinctively the taste of mint still on her lips; she stared at him in bewilderment, her eyes demanding answers.

"Díheno nin" he murmured when she looked back, disappoint extinguishing the light in his eyes.

"Pardon you for what Legolas?" Eruanna quizzed,  her heart racing a little too fast, her head spinning with confusion, time not yet caught up, she touched her lips trying to make sense of the new taste before looking to her friend. "I do not think I understand."

"I love you" he murmured before suddenly looking ashamed and turning away. It felt like someone had poured a bucket of ice over her head. It felt like her world caving in, everything she thought she knew extinguished in an instant. She wiped her mouth hurriedly on her tunic and looked away ashamed of her loss of control.  Thoughts fired round her head, there where so many she didn’t know where to begin.  She knew what had happened but couldn’t understand it, realization was beginning to settle and she wiped her mouth hurriedly on her tunic and looked away ashamed of her loss of control.  

"What? How could anyone love me... how could you?" Eruanna whispered, fighting back the hysterical sobbing that threatens to boil over. Legolas took her hand and kissed it. His lips where softer than satin and she shivered with a desire she never knew existed. _Damn it Eruanna, get a grip, control yourself, remember the last time._ She shivered as waves of joy and shock fought a battle in her mind and gulped back laughter.

"Are you okay Eruanna? You look pale." Legolas murmured, his grip on her hand tightening, Eruanna nodded slowly before taking a deep breath.

"I'm fine... that was just unexpected. You know I hate surprises...why would you do that?!" Eruanna paused her scolding when she saw him lower his eyes. "It was nice Legolas... I just didn't expect it." Her cheeks flushed pink as she watched the delight in his eyes rekindle. She opened her mouth to argue that he shouldn't have scared her but no words came out. Legolas smiled and lent in again, claiming her lips as his. Eruanna surrendered herself utterly, wrapping her arms around his neck, and laying back to enjoy his affections. It was over too soon. He pulled away, his smile brighter than the sun as he caressed her cheek. Wanting more, she kissed him timidly. Legolas pulled her close deepening the kiss and moaned against her lips, his hand winding itself into her hair as he became breathless.

"Damb my vows and fuck the king and all my kind. If I want a lover, I will bloody well take one." she thought but then he broke the kiss and smiled at her, tenderly caressing her face. She kissed him back and relaxed into his warm embrace. "Ai Mela en' coiamin, I want you so badly" she mumbled, kissing his neck tenderly, nipping his ears with her teeth, trying desperately to coax him for more in any way she could.

"We have time Eruanna. Today is not the right time" he said gently. "I'm sure your other experiences will satisfy your imagination for now" he continued, mischief dancing in his eyes.

"You assume I have experience" she muttered dryly.

"I know you well enough to know I wouldn't be the first" he sighed kissing her softly, "Though I should hope I'd be your last."

"These feelings, they complicate things" she murmured, "I cannot promise you anything... other than my love."

He wrapped her in his arms contentedly, "I cannot claim you are my first kiss… but you will be my last, even if I will not be yours" he said decidedly. She opened her mouth to ask more of an explanation but he place a finger on her lips. "Hush. I'm listening to a wonderful sound" he mumbled.

"What would that be?" Eruanna murmured, snuggling further into his cheast.

"They say that a naira's heart blood runs cold and that their hearts never beat, yet I feel warmth and hear a soft flutter within you" he responded kissing her cheek victoriously.

"You've gone soft" she complained, "But I love you no less."

* * *

 

Sometime later, Eruanna lay in Legolas's arms, her right hand intertwined with his. Both lulled by a contented warmth shared between them both were blissfully careless to the world around them.

"I never thought I could feel like this" she thought, Legolas stirred, his blue eyes opened from the daydream he had absorbed himself in.

"Eruanna, mellemin" he cooed happily, "you look perfect."

"Quiet elf, I'm thinking" Eruanna scolded.

"About what?" he asked, a wicked grin running across his lips.

"You," she muttered resting her head back on the silken tunic that covered his chest.

Legolas chucked, "what else is going on in that strange mind" he questioned.

"Other people's opinions of us" she told him, then as an afterthought she added, "May we not speak of this to the others; I want it to be our secret for now, I do not think they would be happy for us, not when you and I are different races, it would make them uncomfortable, and they would think I'd seduced you to get closer to the ring." He said nothing but grunted and began to sing to her. She felt her eyelids droop to the lilting sound.

"Legolas, stop, I wish not to sleep" Eruanna mumbled woozily but he paid no attention other than to kiss her head. She disentangled herself from his arms and sat up, pulling the twigs out from her hair. She felt his arms around her waist once more.

"Lay back down my flame" he whispered. She shook her head trying hard to ignore him kissing her neck.

Absentmindedly she pulled her hair to onside and heard a sharp intake of breath from Legolas. His kisses had ceded but instead there was his fingers tracing a scar down the back of her neck.

"Legolas" she said hesitantly.

"Who did this to you?" he demanded. She did not answer but let him trace the path of laceration. "Who would dare harm my perfect treasure" he persisted.

"My father" Eruanna replied, "You know how my family is.". He kissed her reassuringly.

"Anymore scars you would like to warn me about" he purred, biting her shoulder before twining his arms round her waist.

"I have too many to count" she sighed.

"My poor Eruanna, how can anyone deserve such cruelty" he said gently.

"I deserved it" She answered simply.

"Why did your father feel the need to harm you?" Legolas inquired, resting his chin on her shoulder.

"It is merely collateral damage. My father was a drunkard and a fool and often lost his temper. I was often in his way." Eruanna told him, shivering as her father’s bellows echoed in her ears from the past.

"You let him beat you?" Legolas gasped, “Surely that is not right?”

"It was the price to pay for a good lifestyle" she answered, “Besides, I loved him and he wasn’t always cruel.”

"I shan't let anyone harm you now" he sighed, kissing her ear.

"You can't protect me from myself…" Eruanna protested. He kissed her cheek tenderly,

"I can try," he protested.

"How can you love someone so repulsive and cruel" she muttered pushing him away.

"Because you have done things that have been so but you are neither of those things. In time you shall learn to love yourself again" Legolas responded.

"I do love myself." Eruanna retorted pathetically, narrowing her eyes as she felt her heart harden once again to the truth.

"No. If you did you would value your life as more than just another piece in your king's army, if you did you would not harm others the way you would harm yourself, one day I hope you will learn how to restrain those traits and you will value yourself" Legolas told her sadly. She began to smile at him then a familiar cawing froze her face into horror. "Eruanna, what is it" Legolas said gently. She scrambled to her feet and backed away from the tree feeling her face growing clammy and cold.

  

"Eruanna, stop you're scaring me" he said but she didn't seem to hear him. She stood pressed up against the trunk of the tree, beads of sweat forming on her face. She whimpered her eyes staring straight ahead. He glanced over to see a small raven perched on the branch.

"It's just a raven" he assured her softly, getting to his feet. She watched the bird, shaking violently. Confused as he was, Legolas made a step towards her. She let out a scream and doubled over before curling up in a ball and rocking. The bird flew across and sat nearer.

"Leave me alone" she sobbed. He knelt beside her and wrapped an arm round her unsure of what to do. She shoved him violently crawling backwards. "Don't touch me" she howled clawing at her wrists, "Get them off” she wept, they hurt so much." 

She was trapped in a dark room with chains holding her away from the small light coming from a key hole. In the rafters a raven crowed and fluttered desperately round the room. Her throat was raw from screaming but she let out another yell. The bird swooped and clawed at her face angry that she had disturbed its rest. She felt what seemed like an arm round her and instinctively pulled away.

"Don't touch me" she screamed throwing herself away.

The chains wrenched into her flesh "Please… Take them off… they're hurting me," she begged pulling viciously at the chains. The crow cackled again and fluttered to the door. There was a click in the lock and a shadow stepped into the room.

"Time to pay princess" the shadow snarled. She pulled on her shackles screaming madly at him. "I would leave her. She's wild. No point risking your neck for one night with that thing," said another shadow, his eyes falling on her face.

"Fuck you and all your bloodline" Eruanna snarled, raking her nails down the leg of the nearest mortal so her retreated to the safety of the door.

"Go to hell," the man snapped back, slamming the door in her face.

"I'm already there" she whispered coldly before darkness took her.

* * *

 

It was the middle of the night or nearly dawn when she woke, she wasn't in the cell or even the forest any more but what seemed to be a small room. She felt nothing but a dull numbness inside. A young healer stood over her frowning intently at her. She began to sit up but a severe pain shot through her head and she lay back down reluctantly.

"How are you feeling?" the healer asked, checking her head. She didn't answer but closed her eyes again wishing to become invisible.

"You had a hallucination, none of us really know what happened… has this happened before?" the healer pressed determinedly. Eruanna rolled onto her side feeling sick and empty of emotion.

"How is she?" asked another voice, softer than the first.

"She is awake but hasn't said anything" sighed the healer, "Would you see if you can get her to speak Legolas, she may feel more comfortable with you." Legolas sat down on the bed.

"Eruanna, mellemin are you feeling better?" he said, taking her hand in his. She looked at the healer who was trying to hide her surprise at the use of such an endearment. She smiled wickedly at her and shook her head in response.

"I might be if she leaves" she muttered darkly, "she's been prodding me for a good while."

"I don't think that's wise" the young girl argued, preparing to force another potion down her burning throat.

"Only for a short while, I'll see that she is cared for" Legolas pleaded. Sighing, the healer snatched up her bowl of medicines and stalked out. Eruanna stretched out in the sheets smiling to herself, pulling the blankets over her face.

"Better?" Legolas asked softly, his voice muffled and disjointed.

"Maybe a little" she answered drowsily, peeping out from the blankets at a furrowed brow and disapproving eyes.

"When you said that I can't protect you from yourself…" he started to say, but she cut him off.

"I am not well Legolas. My body may be but my mind is not, I have seen things and sometimes I dwell on them and it drives me to insanity. My regiment have kept it hidden for years, I'd be out of a job and locked a way if anyone where to know, or worse, I'd be killed. It comes and goes sometimes for centuries but for the most part, its usually in the back of my mind causing bad dreams" Eruanna paused and looked up ashamed,"I'm sorry, I don't know why burdening you with something that cannot be helped, It is my punishment to carry."

"You went to war far too young and never stopped fighting; it was inevitable that it would affect you. I am glad that you told me, I only wish you did not blame yourself" Legolas said quietly.

"I was trained for the stress battle would cause. I learned to supress fear. It should not affect me but the bird…" she whispered.

"The raven?" he asked curiously. He saw her shudder and the she seemed to become suddenly more distant.

"I lied when Boromir asked if I feared anything" she confessed.

"I know, you may be able to convince the others but you do not convince me" Legolas said affectionately.

"I'm afraid of them… I never liked birds but carrion used to terrify me. I thought I'd gotten over it but they seem to follow me wherever I go. Every time there is a battle, they are always there and all I remember is how they stalk those who are wounded like we are already dead," she blurted before looking away again in disgrace.

"There is no shame in being afraid" he sighed, pulling her into is chest.

"Try telling that to my uncle or my father. They would think I am afraid of a petty bird" Eruanna snapped shoving him away. Legolas felt a sting of pain at her rejection but quickly hid it; it would do nothing but further her distress.

"I don't know what you grew up believing but I know you are brilliant with a sword or a bad situation and are not afraid to put those skills to good use. They would be both be fools to believe otherwise, it is merely that your fear likes to preside in the same places you find yourself. You are more than in your rights to react the way you did" he scolded. She smiled and huddled into his chest.

"It will never go away." she sighed.

"Then I will have to learn to understand it" Legolas told her; "We shall cope with it together, you do not have to do it alone anymore." He held her tightly to him longing to take away all of her suffering but he knew it to be impossible, it was all too common in her kind but it was so frowned upon that no one spoke of it openly. "Eruanna" he whispered.

"Yes" she slurred wearily.

"I love you"

She closed her eyes and he relaxed as a contented smile flickered on her lips.

"Legolas" she whispered.

"Yes?"

"What do the others think has happened to me, this cannot have gone unnoticed" she asked.

"They think that you got into a brutal fight with a wild boar," he answered stroking her hair. “The hobbits are quite impressed and they certainly don’t think ill of you.”

"No. They just don't like me. Or at least Aragorn doesn't and Boromir acts like he does but he is only interested in what he can gain from me which I can never give him; that belongs to you. The dwarf is unnerved by me, the hobbits, well I cannot tell and you, you claim to love me" Eruanna muttered.

"You have no faith in my feelings?" he asked already defensive.

"None at all" she mumbled, "If you did care about me you would stay far away from me, at least if you were wise." Legolas began to feel sick. She was pushing him away again and he was powerless to stop it.

"I'm not wise" he said softly.

"Then you cannot blame me if I hurt you" she told him before letting sleep take her. He sat there for a long time. She wouldn't hurt him would she? She wouldn't leave him, she couldn't leave him. He knew there was more than a chance she was capable of it. He remembered the young woodman and his family and shivered in revulsion. She should never have done it but she couldn't have stopped herself if she had wanted to.

* * *

 

_Eruanna had snuck out during the night, curious Legolas followed. The celebrations of his coming of age where still in full swing and anyone could get through the gates without much trouble. He followed her to the stable where he saw her saddle a horse and strap her sword to her side. The moonlight catching the red of her eyes started sending shivers down his spine, he should be afraid of her. He should turn a blind eye like all the others. She was up to something and his heart wanted to see her return safely but his head told him that he would regret following. He chose to ignore his head. He waited until she had trotted off into the trees before saddling his mare and following as quickly as he could. She was going at a fast pace and he wasn't sure he was following her as she had her hood pulled up and rode like a man possessed. Wherever she was headed it required urgency. His hopes were reinstated after a tree branch knocked her hood away from her face._

_She began to slow the horse and clambered off. She tied the animal to a tree before slotting an assortment of knives into their holders. He saw her look around to see if she as being watched before she drew her long sword and knelt in the moonlight._

_"Let vengeance be my guidance and justice wield my sword. May no man cross me I pray to you almighty goddess of night let me offer you a great sacrifice for my faithful soul" she whispered softly up to the sky. The wind picked up in the surrounding trees for a moment then it died down once more. Legolas began to try and guess where they were. It was far from his home and it made him wonder what business she had away from the safety of his father’s borders. The king often charged her with errands but usually to visit her own father and she never crept away into the night to do them. The trees where thinning out and through them he could see the twinkle of lights from a cabin._

_"Why so far south?" he wondered as she slipped closer to the house. He watched as she scouted around it, checking for alternative exits. Dread began to pool in his mind and he notched an arrow to his bow should he need it. On finding there were no routes save the front door she knocked on the large brass handle and waited patiently. It opened casting warm fairy tale firelight across the green grass. A small curly-haired child with big bold eyes peered up at her._

_"Is your father at home?" Eruanna demanded of the child. The girl shook her head, her curls bouncing wildly around her small face. "May I come in" Eruanna asked gently. She girl beamed a trusting smile and let her through the door way. There was silence for a long time._

_Curiously he crept up to the small window and saw the Eruanna leaning over a bundle of blankets. She picked the blankets up and moved into another room. He heard a small giggle and then a crash of a plate falling off a dresser. Then there was more quite. A baby began to cry and he saw Eruanna walking back into the room shushing it gently before laying it in an armchair. He saw a man and a young woman wander from the tree line and pressed himself into the shadows so as not to be seen._

_The man entered with the woman in his arms then said "Arlen, Take our baby and lock yourself in the kitchen. I have business to settle. Do not open the door under any circumstance." Legolas peered up into the room. The man watched his wife retreat to the kitchen then grabbed the nearest heavy object._

_"What do you want" he snarled at her. "Justice." Eruanna replied, her eyes flashed silver and the rock he held flew out of his hand. She grabbed his wrist and flipped him onto his front before smashing his skull against the stone he would have used against her. He lay still and quiet. Eruanna turned him over onto his back. She bent over him knelt and lowered her lips to his neck. Her teeth sank teeth into his veins and she gripped the body which flailed violently in its unconscious state. Legolas raised his bow to shoot her but he could not release his arrow. His eyes became transfixed as the man woke gasping and pulling at her hands to free himself. Slowly his efforts became weaker and his body went limp. She raised her head and but he could not see her face as her back was turned to him. She stood, cocking her head on one side and walking over to the locked door. She tried the lock and let out a feral moan of anguish._

_He watched as she sniffed the air like a wolf on a hunt, then she kicked at the lock. The hinges began to splinter. Once again he took aim to shoot but he could not release the arrow. The door gave and the woman began to scream. He ran round to the kitchen window but he could see nothing. After a few more moments the baby's wailing stopped too. He saw the door to the cabin open and Eruanna stepped out. She wiped her mouth on the back of her hand. The moon cast a dark reflection around her. Blood stained her clothes and hair. She swayed drunkardly for a few moments._

_"Forgive me Eru..." she whispered before she tore off into the night._

_The cabin was hot and dark. Legolas managed to find the candles and lit them in the fire. The man lay in a pool of scarlet, great gashes down his face and neck. He ran into the kitchen, the woman lay under the table her body torn apart. There was a foul smell of charring flesh and he turned to see the kitchen fire burning brightly. It had a small distinctive shape lying in its fingers. He staggered out of the room gagging with the effort of trying not to be sick. He then remembered the blue-eyed girl and opened the last door._

_She lay peacefully on the bed, eyes staring up at the ceiling, hands folded across her chest. Pottery lay in shards all around. He stepped closer and the sight made his stomach turn. The girl was gone. Her gold ringlets splayed out across the bed, soaked red. Her throat had been torn wide open as if some wild beast had turned tyrant and held her down by it as she had struggled. Her face was snowing in the stark contrast to the colour of her pillows and her lips where slowly turning blue as the lifeblood that she had trickled out. Legolas struggled out of the hut before being violently sick upon the grass. He gripped the handrail to steady himself and looked up. Blue eyes met crimson ones._

_“Eruanna. What have you done?" he whispered before sinking to his knees, vaguely aware of two arms encircling him as he fell._

_“I’m sorry… I don’t recall…what have I done?”_

Translations:

Ai, I theilin in edhil teiliar- Oh the games you elves do play (rough translation)

Díheno nin-Forgive me.

Mela en' coiamin- Love of my life

Mellemin- My love


	13. Eruanna The Magpie

The stars came out in their ones and twos, blinking with the new evening. Then the sun rose, beaming as the new dawn swept through the sky. Two days passed and she wallowed in the dark abscesses of her mind. Not eating nor drinking nor even talking. No one but Legolas visited and even he began to lose faith after an hour of silence.

As night fell and the moon cast its rays of light through the trees, a soft patter of feet approached the room she was staying in before a gentle tentative knock interrupted her internal curses to the valar. The door swung inwards and the curly head of a hobbit peered round. The halfling smiled and waved a sweet smelling loaf in her face.  Her stomach growled appreciatively and she took it from him, nibbling the warm crust. Pippin smiled nervously before pulling up a chair to sit beside her. Eruanna lent heavily on the table, hiding behind her hair.

“I stole it from the kitchens… I thought with all the soup they are trying to feed you might want something solid.”  She snorted in bewilderment and the hobbit grinned.

“Why? Why would you help me?”

The halfling frowned and shrugged before tugging a clump of bread off from the loaf and wolfing it down.

“You helped Frodo when we were attacked outside Moria… besides I was hoping it would be enough to bribe you in teaching me how to use a sword. Boromir tries but we really don’t learn much from all the compliments. I want someone who can tell me the truth.”

“Even if the truth is hard to hear…”

“Yes, how am I supposed to defend myself with my flimsy sward arm, it’s more like I’m doing a dance really, Boromir had me using his shied, but I thought it was a clumsy thing...”

“Only cowards have shields” she interrupted, handing him a small dagger ad getting up to face him, “Men hide behind them, they use them so they don’t know the destruction they do. They don’t have to look in the enemies eyes at they kill them.” Pippin inspected the dagger and turned to face her, Eruanna began to laugh and the hobbit frowned and looked down then around trying to figure out what was wrong.

“Did Boromir tell you to stand like that? Stand sideways; it makes you less of a target. Keep your arm up when defending unless the sword goes low; in your case I don’t think it will matter too much as your opponents will be taller…”

“He said that it was a good stance for when I had a shield…” Pippin protested. She sighed, why everyone else insisted on having shields was beyond her.

“When I was a child, I wanted a shield like my father, I asked him one day whether I could have one and he said only when I learned what an actual shied was made of. I answered metal and learned over time I was wrong. I never got that shield…”

“What is a shield made of?”

“People, my brothers and sisters, my friends and comrades they are my shield against the crushing force of our enemies, the only use for a wooden shield is so you can hide from your enemy. What good is a shield that weighs you down and tires you out? In the end a false shield can be your worst enemy. Trust the people around you and trust that they will protect you. Now, watch my motions and copy, the blade is a part of you, an extension of what you are… a new hand if you like.”

Pippins efforts at first where stumbling and clumsy, Boromir’s teachings had to be retaught to suit the hobbits movements rather than moulding him to suit the different moves that men used in battle. By midday Eruanna was satisfied he knew enough to put his skills into practice and gave him a small sword. Leading him out on the grass she cast a spell and up an orc rose, launching himself at the hobbit. Pippin squealed in terror and hid behind her knees. Waving away the smoke figure Eruanna sighed and drew her own sword.

* * *

 

Late noon soon arrived and Eruanna found herself lazily blocking every attack that was thrown in her direction. On the breeze she caught an all too familiar scent and halted the training. Sneaking round the back of Boromir was getting easier every time, he was getting sloppier as the days went on as his attention was becoming more focused on the ring. She grabbed him by the ear and dragged him out into the clearing, handing him a sword before nodding to Pippin who instantly leaped up and began forcing the man to defend himself.

After Boromir was defeated for the second time, Eruanna was satisfied that the hobbit had learned enough to take a break and released him. Pippin scurried off in search of the other halflings to flaunt his new skill.

Boromir picked himself up off the floor and smiled at her. Eruanna watched as he collected up the various daggers she had aimed at him to make it harder and handed them to her.

“You said you wouldn’t train the halflings. What changed?”

Eruanna considered the question at length, before deciding she hadn’t a good answer.

“I thought it would be better than being locked away in that room, besides, the little one was doing very well to disarm me twice.”

“Nonsense, you were going easy on him…”  

“No I wasn’t.” Boromir laughed and offered his arm to her. Remembering she wasn’t to leave her room without an escort she accepted it hesitantly and allowed him to lead her back to where the company camped. The man stopped and turned to face her, grabbing her wrist tight so she couldn’t escape.

“Do you think that men weak, that this is all Isuldur’s fault?”

Eruanna stared at him in surprise, it was true Isildur had failed to destroy the ring but there had been others there who could have done it. Pity for the man told her to lie, military training told her to tell the truth.

“I think… I think that Elrond could have easily thrown Isildur in with the ring. I think elves, men, dwarves, they are all as weak as one another, and men are just assumed weak because of Isildur failing to throw away a ring that controlled him. It was not down to one man to get rid of it… It was down to all people.”

“You suggest this could have ended if Elrond murdered Isildur.”

“I would not call it murder, death for the greater good rules out murder… but yes, if Isildur had gone with the ring then none of this would have come to pass, you would not have met me and I would still be a myth in your eyes and Frodo would still be living in the sire, Bilbo would probably have died in the goblin tunnels…Gondor may even still have had kings.”

Boromir considered this for a long while and she tried desperately to invade his thoughts but they were shut off by a darkness growing there and she retreated, afraid that she would succumb to the same evil. Eventually her reply was accepted and they continued in science.

 

* * *

 

That night she sat by the small fire listening intently to the rings calls. The fellowship slept around her and she practiced lighting her fire and dowsing it in water with her magic for some time to try and shut out the noise of Mordor that clawed to her ears.  If ever there was a time it was now.

Getting to her feet, she scanned the alcove for unwanted eyes. Creeping over to the sleeping halfling she slipped her hand under his collar and removed the ring. It was warm to the touch and it heated up with every second. Holding it up to the light by the chain so as not to touch it, she inspected it before putting it in her bag and packing her things. Taking one more look over her shoulder she hurried off though the trees.

After ten minutes walking she stopped and took it out again, its call soft as a siren and she sat beneath a tree to run her fingers over it. Fascinated by its sweet voice she removed it from the chain and slipped it on. Her head exploding in agony and she ripped it back of her finger the screams of “ _traitor… TRAITOR”_ ringing in her ears, yet its call was sweeter than any nectar she had ever tasted and she gazed at it longingly before picking up her things to continue. So engrossed in her study of it she didn’t notice the tree until it was too late.

She let out a soft “ooft” sound and stumbled backwards, rubbing her forehead before crashing into what seemed to be another tree, only two strong arms wrapped around her stomach and held her tight. Eruanna struggled violently but to no avail, reluctantly she gave in and the elf dropped her to the ground.

“Put it back.” Haldir commanded, his blade pressed to her throat.

“No!” she hissed, clutching the gold band tightly.

“Eruanna… don’t make me kill you for it.”

Eruanna passed to consider it before she shook her head and began to crawl backwards. She was pulled to her feet by someone else, she whirled round to see Legolas with a face that looked like a sour lemon and she squeaked in shock.

“Do as he says. It’s not yours to take.”

Biting her lip nervously she glanced from one elf to the other, Legolas gripping both of her wrists tightly as she decided what to do. Eventually she nodded and she was released from the iron grip.

“I wasn’t going to do anything with it… I just thought… I’m sorry it was calling and I gave in.” Eruanna mumbled holding out the ring. Neither elf touched it, both stayed perfectly still. Eventually Legolas wrapped his arm about her waist and led her forcefully back to the camp.

She dragged her feet most of the way, dreading what the others would have to say. When they returned, no one had yet woken and Eruanna slipped the ring back into a sleeping Frodo’s hand. Glancing over to where Legolas and Haldir stood, she already knew that she was in more than trouble. Dragging her feet over to them she lowered her eyes to the ground and waited for one of them to speak.

The silence was torture of a different kind. One she had never imagined would affect her. Only the loud snores of Gimli echoed through the night along with the distant chimes of a bell. Light danced around the forest floor and she watched a beetle explore her boot as she waited for her scalding. The scent of lemongrass drifted on the wind along with the mixed smells of her companions.

Her anxiety was almost palatable by the time Haldir spoke. The sharp distained tone and cold grey eyes cut her heart and she froze it instantly, hiding behind the stone mask of years of fighting. Words didn’t matter anymore, she did not hear them, like knives they should have hurt her, influenced her to feel remorse but there was nothing.

Then the gentle words of Legolas snapped her concentration and she raised her eyes to meet his. Sorrow: why did he have to look like that? Guilt flooded through her, an all-consuming wave of pure guilt smashed at her insides tearing apart all composure she had. It was like a spark of fire igniting, feeling crashing through her body, feelings she hadn’t know existed and she fell to her knees, clutching her stomach in agony as all the walls her handlers had built where ripped to ribbons.

For the first time in years she felt almost human again. Eyes scrunched shut trying to force away the feelings she felt someone pull her to her feet. Slowly, the shock and pain subsided and the feelings she had had for a moment subsided. Letting her eyes open once more she found herself staring up into cool blue.

“Bad Eruanna?” she asked softly.

“That is one way to put it” Legolas grumbled, sifting his fingers though her hair. Eruanna caught the jealous flash in Haldir’s eyes and kissed her lovers jaw mockingly. Legolas sighed and glanced over at the other elf, “are we done chastising her? I think she has no intention of listening anymore.”

“We’re done… but Eruanna, try anything like that again and I will have to kill you.” Haldir responded, nodding curtly to Legolas before vanishing behind the thick treeline. Legolas sighed gently and pulled her into him slightly, she snuggled into his shoulder, trying to forget the vile call of the ring and the even worse moment of human emotion she had felt.

“Legolas… how did you find me?”

“I followed Haldir. You were mumbling in your sleep about the ring yesterday and I thought you might be planning something.”

You don’t know that I was…”

“You’re always planning something, I know you better than you think.” The elf kissed her brow and gave her a gentle smile. He had forgiven her. _He won’t forget... unless..._ Eruanna yawned loudly and unravelled herself from her sweethearts embrace, grinning at him as she led him back to the campfire.

A few kisses later and Legolas had almost forgotten the incident. Satisfied that he wouldn’t mention it to the others she cuddled up to him, the heat of the fire licking up her back and melting the icy resentment she still held towards him for his betrayal. Above bats fluttered from tree to tree and owls hooted ad screeched as they hunted. For once there was quiet in the chaos of her mind, all was still and peaceful and her dreams were filled with light.


	14. Who To Trust

He paced up and down under the soft light form above. There was so little time to decide their course of action and he had given up asking Boromir's opinion. Aragorn thought that his behaviour was becoming more erratic, only the other night he had come staggering through the trees claiming that Eruanna had tried to kill him. He shivered unintentionally at the thought of the Naira. She was pleasant at times and good to the halflings but she gave off a cold brooding aura that made him uneasy. He wanted to talk to Legolas and ask his advice but Eruanna has been taken ill as her leg had become infected (or at least that was what she would have him believe) and Legolas has taken it upon himself to stand guard by her bedside. Sighing he turned back to his pacing growing more and more irritated. Boromir was plaguing his mind.

The influence of the ring was growing and it was plain to see that it's affect on the son of Denethor was strong. Even the hobbits where being to notice the changes. Haldir who had barely known Boromir for more than five minutes had warned him to tread carefully. Now they were going into more dangerous wilds he was not sure whether he could trust Boromir, he already had one of the company he did not trust. He had seen the look in Eruanna's eyes at the thought of being rid of Frodo in Moria when the watcher grabbed him though he had said nothing. It was then he saw a curly head peeping out from under the bushes. Pippin, he thought and pretended he hadn't seen him.

"Who is it that is concerning you Aragorn?" Pippin asked curiously, finally giving up on his spying."If you are worriedly about Boromir, he is just finding the idea of disobeying his father's wishes hard to handle, I'm sure of it" the hobbit continued.

"It is not only Boromir that concerns me" Aragorn replied, helping Pippin out from under the shrubs.

"Oh. You mean…" he trailed off nervously.

"I'm afraid I cannot be fooled by her charming appearance, she is by her very nature deceitful" Aragorn answered, seating himself on the grass to sharpen his blade. "After all, no one has ever had the courage to teach her morality."

"She's not that bad... I just think she doesn't know what is right and wrong... her version of it is what she can do and what she can't, what she can get away with..."

"She tried to take the ring. Legolas told me. Haldir caught her sneaking off with it in her pocket..." The halfling did not look surprised in the slightest but began to look thoughtfully at him.

"Perhaps It would be better if she had taken it, it would at least be out of Boromir's way."

"And perhaps it is time she learned truly what right and wrong is rather than living by her own set of rules... Alas, people are so much easier to work out than trade routes." Aragorn thought out loud, smiling weakly when the hobbit gave him a confused look.

"That's what I came here to tell you about. I heard Haldir telling Boromir to tell you that they are going to give us boats to travel in as well as supplies of course" Pippin recalled, grinning with delight at finally recollecting his information.

"Thank you Pippin, that puts my mind at some ease" Aragorn told him gratefully.

"Actually, I was wondering which way the food supplies where? It's just we haven't had second breakfast yet and it is all most lunch" Pippin said thoughtfully. Aragorn threw back his head and laughed before leading the hobbit back to the citadel, Boromir still playing faintly on his mind.

* * *

Eruanna gazed back at the fading forest of Loren. The gentle current pulled the boats downstream with ease. She knew something bad was on the horizon however she could not tell what. Lying down in the front boat, Eruanna wished she was anywhere but in that boat, the only comfort for her was Legolas but he was too busy talking to Gimli.

"Never mind, you don't need him, you've been alone for century's, a few hours in his arms needn't change that" Eruanna thought contentedly. The sloshing against the boat and the cool breeze against her cheek lifted her spirits. Eruanna gazed up at the sky. Skylarks flew overhead, singing delightedly. Looking over the side of the boat, Eruanna saw fish darting in and out of the reeds. She felt an overwhelming desire to slip into the water and swim, to feel the water caress her body. To be free from the troubles of the world, that was what she truly wanted.

The world was silent in its dormant state of sleep; its creatures seemed scarce for no birds sang. No small mammal ran along the shore. There was only the soft lull of the water hissing like the mouth of an untameable serpent. The boats paddled like ghosts long forgotten in the wake of century's, the river pulling them where it would like a cat playing with a mouse or a child with a toy.

As day drew into night, the moon reflected of the crystal blue river, the stars sung brightly, in their mysterious way, the way only a Naira knew. Yet for all this peaceful stillness, there was a sense of malice in the air, a pure cold hate, which she knew well and it called out to her, whispering sweet honeyed words of a world dominated by her kind, of a world where no one could shackle her or chain her. Shaking of the uneasy cold feeling, Eruanna looked over at the other boats, Frodo, Sam, Merry and Pippin slept peacefully, as did Gimli, his snores where enough to waken a dragon. Eruanna smiled at this, she loved dragons and for many years the creatures had lived in her city, standing watch and protecting them from those who would harm them. Now it was winter and the dragons were indoors, guarding the massive horde of treasure no dwarf would ever lay eyes upon. She had never understood the fear between dragons and the other races of middle earth. She mulled this thought over for a long while. Her kind had never had a problem with a dragon though they should have done a long time ago but for the time they were allied, mutual companions cast out from the rest of the world and something untouchable and to be feared. Shouting roused her from her semi conscience mind.

"Eruanna duck" Legolas yelled, Eruanna did so just in time, an arrow flew past her cheek grazing it. Eruanna took up a bow from the boats hull and shot the arrow back, missing entirely and slicking open her hand so the blood ebbed from where the string had caught her knuckle. She cursed herself for not letting Legolas teach her how to use a bow properly before grabbing her sword and jumping off the side of the boat, the water was ice cold and fast flowing but Eruanna knew she could not come up yet.

Swimming under the water, she reached a heavily shrouded bank, she drew her sword and crept along the river till she reached the bank where the orcs stood, scrambling up a tree, she edged along the branch, before readying herself for a fight. Leaping down to face the monsters, she knew that she was in trouble, there was at least fifteen, "damn my reckless impulses" Eruanna thought lunging wildly out of the way of a lethal knife.

From the boats the fellowship watched with horror as the seemingly harmless Eruanna hacked orc after orc into pieces.The on the wind a shadow crossed over the moon and it went dark. So dark that they shrank into the boats to escape the darkness that covered them, Legolas let fly his arrows and the beast fell to the ground, he then set upon the orcs on the shore. Eruanna collapsed on the bank with relief, rage tearing through her system like a rampant hurricane, all the orcs were dead or dashing back into the forest but most lay in heaps around her though she could take little of the credit.

The river once blue was now running black with blood. Eruanna ran her hand over the top of her head taking long breaths to temper the anger inside of her, before calling to Legolas to pick her up off the shore. Once back on the boat, she settled herself into the blankest and tried to keep warm. Sleep became her master and locked her in his cell. No dreams ebbed at the corners of her mind, no callings of tainted promise of forever called out to her. Only a permeable darkness that filled her mind and dragged her away from a conscious world where love and sorrow awaited her.

* * *

 

When she awoke she was laying on a stony inlet on the edge of the river bank, wrapped in blankets from head to toe. The fellowship slept soundly save for Aragorn who gazed out across the landscape. Eruanna rose and trudged over to where the ranger sat and settled herself beside him. He glanced at her, frowned but said nothing.

"Do you miss her?" Eruanna asked at length.

"Yes, more than words can describe" The man answered, uncomfortable in her presence.

"You will see her again, I am sure of it.. You will not be the same as you where once, I think you should know that" she mused out loud. Aragorn looked at her confused.

"You will see what i mean in time but I did not come to talk of lady Arwen. There is a matter that troubles me greatly and sorrows me more every passing hour" She continued, checking that everyone else was still resting.

"And what is that" Aragorn asked gingerly, his had already on his blade. Eruanna place the dagger she had hidden under her cloak to one side as a peace offering and the man relaxed.

She glanced around to see if all were asleep, then replied simply: "Boromir, he troubles me utterly. His mind is not what it was when I saw him in Rivendell. Be on your guard Aragorn. He wants that ring."

The man's face grew grave, "I have seen the changes too but thought little of it till recently, are you certain it is tied to the ring and it is not your own desire... I know you tried to take it." he stated, his hands stilled on his blade again waiting for her to attack. Eruanna remained calm.

"I took it to protect Frodo" she replied grimly, "I fear that Frodo is too trusting and that his love for his friends would blind him, love after all is seeing the light  and Frodo is in denial that any one of us would harm him. Boromir is a good man, he doesn't deserve what is to come. I do not ask forgiveness for what I did; I do not need it, I did what I did because it was right and because it was merciful." The ranger gazed back out across the river.

"If only it was my heart instead of his that must be corrupted" he sighed.

"It is what fate has decided and I fear it will not end well should his father get his hands on the ring, do not go anywhere near Gondor I beg of you Aragorn" Eruanna advised. With a curt nod he turned his attentions back to the water, pretending his thoughts were detracting him.

"You dislike me, I can see it" Eruanna continued, the quiet to her was becoming awkward but she wasn't done with the man yet, she needed his trust for the road to Mordor and for the time there was nothing but hostility.

"I dislike how everyone else is blind to your motives..." Aragorn muttered.

"What motives?"

"You only came on this quest because of Legolas and that ring, not because you want to help... you know he loves you and you will in time manipulate that to take the ring."

"They say love is being able to see the light in someone who has known nothing but darkness. If he loves me, then there must be light somewhere inside of me. Besides, you underestimate my own feelings for him." She answered, glancing over to the elf who slept peacefully near the waters edge.

"He told me of them, he also told me you have decided nothing will ever happen between you."

"It cannot be. Our people are as different as the sun and the moon they are daybreak and we are nightfall... as much as I desire to be with him, my family would not allow it. They took me from his side once, they will do it again."

"Promise me one thing Eruanna, If you have no intention of loving him in the same way, do not give him hope."

"I fear that deed is done. You may think of me as you will but I want this to work and until the day comes where they burn me alive for braking my vows to my king, I will be with him." 

The man sighed softly and muttered something about "selfish creatures" before going to find more firewood. Eruanna slipped away to Legolas's side and huddled into the sleeping elf. His breath tickled her face and she smiled contentedly, rolling onto her back to look up at the stars and moon that gave out a small trickle of hope for the future. Across the river a woman stood her cries echoing into the night, twisted and pull of anguish and the sound of a breaking heart. 

_A great fighter she was,_

_She knew more of war and pain than many,_

_She needed no company, none, or so she thought_

_Trust she never learned but for one_

_Under a starlit sky she longed for her past to be altered_

_But the stars bore down cold and unyielding_

_And for all she cried out into the darkness and all the comfort of a lover's warm embrace,_

_Her pain would not leave her no matter what she did._


	15. Shiny Things and Sirens

Eruanna lay on the stony bank of the river, curled up beside Legolas. The others were scattered round them, sleeping tranquilly. She could not sleep, though her body yearned for rest. She stood up, and stretched, shaking off any need for rest. She wandered over to the cliff at the back of the inlet, running her hands over the rock; feeling for a handhold, once she found one, Eruanna began to climb up the sheer rock. The wind rushed around her, Eruanna laughed, she felt free at last, her companions where but specs below. She carried climbing up the rock, once at the top, Eruanna sighed in relief. She was away from all eyes up here, she could her herself. She closed her eyes and let the memories that had been trying overwhelm her finally take hold.

* * *

 

There was a room with high stone walls and stained glass windows, upon the ceiling was painted many battles and on the floor, pearl, diamond emerald and ruby as well as many unnameable gems swept out in mosaic after mosaic. At the far end of the room upon a pedestal was a throne cast from gold and black jet and upon it sat a king. His eyes dark and pooling black, his face a wreck of scarred tissue. His biceps bulged from the tight bearskin shirt he wore and in his right hand he held a whip and in the other a sword.

"Ah. Niece of mine" He called to her. "Do you have a coin on you?" She handed him a mithril coin known as Draziger, the currency in all Narian territories and looked at it carefully.

"I hear you are the cause behind all my troubles. Yet you are family and my longest serving captain. You have put me in quite a dilemma. Do I show mercy? Or will I be ruthless?" He asked. She knelt before him.

"I am at your indulgence my lord" she murmured, humility had forced her knee, she could use her sword but there was no use.

"I think I will let this coin decide, what you think?" he asked.

"I think that fair" She said bitterly, raising her eyes so filled with hatred to watch her fate be decided. The coin flew up in the air and clattered before her knees.

"Heads not tales... It seems the gods want me to take your head, but I am feeling generous." Eruanna looked up at her uncle, her eyes burning with venom and hate.

"Do what you will with me uncle. Just promise me you will not harm my brother, I know you are keeping him for your pleasure," she snarled.

"Your brother? Your brother is missing and has been for some time" the king crowed joyfully.

"GAURDS" he yelled. Two armoured guards entered, spears in hand, their faces granite in the face of their king. They didn’t even look at her. Their captain, the one they swore to follow. They couldn’t bring themselves to.

"I want her taken to the main square and given five hundred lashes. If she makes a sound… double it, if she continues kill her and feed the corpse to the dogs." the king ordered. So she was dragged through the streets with the pitiful eyes of her people gazing up at her. As they tied her to the rack she vowed she would not utter one word to any of them again, until her revenge was completed and they bowed only to her.

The scene in her memory then changed to a large warm chamber with a roaring fire and large four poster bed. On it sat a girl with wavy, corn coloured hair and big green eyes. Behind her a woman with raven tresses, sat reading a book to the child. The child froze suddenly listening intently. The woman whispered in her ear. The child hid herself under the bed and the woman reached for a small hunting knife that lay nearby. Leering in the doorway a man stood holding a black dagger. The child saw her mother freeze in horror.

"Well, well" the man hissed, "aren't you a delicious sight." His scent began to fill up the room, old fish and dried out cabbage lingered in the air. He reached for the woman's behind grinning as he did so. She struck his cheek with the knife.

"You want to play do you?" he snapped. The child covered her ears as her mother began to scream in terror and pain as the man forced himself upon her. Eruanna hid her face in the dust and waited for the screams to end. Once they did she waited some more. The first thing she felt as her hand slid out from under the bed was a warm, sticky substance. Then she saw her mother, laying discarded on the floor and gasping for air.

"Mama" She whispered. She crawled over to her and held her mother's head in her lap. Red poured out from her mother's heart and from her throat. It had stained the pure white silks that she wore and began to stain the sky blue of her own tunic.

"Mama, Mama. Please don't go. Don't leave me on my own, don’t leave papa, he won’t like it, please don’t leave us now" Eruanna begged. Tears poured down the child's face as she shook the fading woman who lay dying in her arms.

"Don't give up mama. Heal. Please." She sobbed.

"I love you little one" whispered the woman, "Promise me you will be good."

"I promise" wept the naïve child, for it was a promise that would be many times broken. The last of her mother's breath left her body and Eruanna let out a scream of rage and sadness, before bending over the body of her mother to weep.

Eruanna blinked back the tears that came with the memories of her mother. Now however the memory of that night had almost been repeated. She shuddered softly to herself and set about hunting breakfast for the company. Letting all the world fade away and her heart once more fill with the violent rage of her past.

* * *

 

Early evening had come and they had set up camp; Eruanna sat, singing quietly to herself, she missed Bill's company. Legolas was arguing with Aragorn, so there was no chance they could sneak off anywhere. Eruanna head lifted as an odd smell wafted over to her, she followed it round a bend only to discover that it was merely a cluster of flowers. She crept further away, following the shallow path of the inlet that lead round to another inlet with a deep pool. Trying to shake the disturbing feeling of being watched.

Once hidden from prying eyes, Eruanna rolled up her leggings to wade into the water. Letting the water soothe her muscles, she ducked under and then came up, ignoring the liquid drenched chill from her clothes. Obviously, it was time to get out and go hunting again, it had been too long since she had drank and without the blood of others she would beginning to feel things she should not. Once dressed, Eruanna sat on the side of the pool, thinking over her feelings for Legolas. She loved him dearly but wondered whether it was right to be so in love with one of a different species, it was not logical that she should plus it was also rash and dangerous. The loud crunch of rubble stirred her, looking round she saw Boromir leaning some distance off against the stone wall.

"He is very persistent, I'll give him that" Eruanna thought, before nodding at him and beckoning him over.

"My Lady, I'm sorry to disturb you, I...I was worried that you were hurt, you so not seem yourself." the man said.

“It is merely homesickness… Everyone was talking about their families and I just thought it better if you didn’t hear my story.”

“And why is that?” The man seated himself on the rock beside her and looked up to the stars.

“The gods do not wish it.” Eruanna muttered, hiding her face behind her hair.

“I do not think Eru would mind you share your past with who you choose.” He pulled her hair way from her face, revealing the graze she had received. She brushed him off calmly and looked out to the moon.

“It is not your gods I speak of, it is mine. In Termoree there were four moons in the sky. Tyfionis the first moon and the winter god, he is married to Aqdite who presides over summer and is sister to Ihena who is spring and coupled with Udis who is autumn, and they control everything that falls under each season such as love being born of Ihena… We have other gods and goddesses like Oion who rules over battle and Ufana who is death… You all assume that my people follow the same traditions and gods because we were created by one of them but who created the ones you follow? Do not assume to know what you cannot understand, the ring being one of those things.”

“What would you know of the ring and its power? How could you know what it did so long ago?”

“You assume me to be a child. You assume my people have not battled such power before, you are wrong, _Boy,_ in all my years I have never met a fool like you. Leave me to my thoughts and return to the group, your long words and assumptions are welcome there” Eruanna spat feeling his gaze upon her skin as she stood to walk away. When he did not leave she began to walk back to the others, but the man grabbed her arm and pulled her into a kiss. Eruanna pulled away glowering at him as he smiled and her. She wiped her mouth on her sleeve revolted before the man moved closer, suddenly his face clouded with anger. Something wasn’t right. The man was no longer a man. Eruanna frowned as he snatched at her wrists. The soft nectar of the rings call drifted to her on the wind and she felt sick. His lips crushed hers again and she struggled free.

“Boromir… you know better than this… this isn’t you… fight it.”

“You cannot understand. I need the ring to save my city… you need the ring to save yours, together we can help each other… be with me and save your people.” The words were not his. In the distance the voice whispered them like venom into the man’s ear and he repeated them like a pupped on strings. Boromir grabbed at her tunic. Eruanna snapped, the anger she felt to the ring and her patience was tiring fast. If the man was beyond reason then she would not reason with him.

She punched him hard in the face, his nose cracked loudly with the impact of her fist, Boromir fought back, launching a thump in her direction. Eruanna dodged it easily and kneed him in the stomach, Boromir kicked her shin and she screamed in pain and surprise before grabbing him round the back of the neck and holding him firm, he elbowed her ribs and Eruanna found her hunger and need for blood driving the evil rage she was thrown into. Sinking her teeth into his neck had never been more inviting and she did so with no remorse. She drank hurriedly; already she heard the footfall of others as the man howled in pain.

Blood lust had consumed her by the time Legolas grabbed her pulling her round to face him, her teeth tore a chunk away with the force of it. Eruanna spat it out and began to shiver as hatred set in, Legolas pulled her close murmuring softly into her ear before holding her tightly to restrain her. She fought his grip, her blood boiling with fury.

Aragorn seized Boromir and held him firm, Eruanna broke free and lunged again at the man. Her hands seized his throat, digging her nails viciously into his wound so he howled once more. It took both Aragon and Legolas to remove them, leaving the man momentarily winded before he threw himself at her but Aragorn snatched his clothes before impact and hauled him away. Boromir was in a fit of rage and fighting Aragorn with every ounce of strength in him, Aragorn wouldn't have been able to hold him much longer, but Gimli heard the commotion and came running.

"Legolas, take her back to the camp, take care of her, we will deal with Boromir. Do not let her out of your sight" Aragorn called, wrestling the man to the floor as Gimli sat firmly on the man’s chest. Legolas froze and Eruanna caught the smallest glimmer of fury in the elven eyes, but he nodded and he led her away calmly. As soon as the where out of sight, Legolas pulled her into a fearce kiss, Eruanna clung to him delightedly, covered in blood though she was, she refused to released him when his lips left hers.

"Did he harm you my little flame?" He murmured gently, nuzzling her neck. Eruanna shook her head though her leg seethed with pain from the kick, her breath slowly returning to normal and her temper cooling she began to try and peace together what had driven her to lash out so violently.

“No… I think he just overestimated my feelings for him…”

 "I will kill him if he lays even his eyes on you again" Legolas interrupted, his eyes bubbled with anger, his arms wrapped tightly round her waist.

"I don't think he will… besides I don’t think it was entirely his choice" she said soothingly. Legolas smiled sadly then glancing over his shoulder; he led her back to the camp.

 

* * *

 

Eruanna sighed, Boromir had come back with his nose bleeding, and she later discovered she had broken it. She smiled thinking to herself that it was a comfort at any rate, though the sweet voice of a certain gold band troubled her. Dawn was breaking and Eruanna reluctantly walked to the edge of the cliff and jumped, hitting the rocks below silently, sending a small shock through her still bruised leg. Legolas was awake and watching her intently, she went over and sat beside him.

Legolas breathed out slowly, his anger still evident having been closely watching her other suitor for some time. "He’s watching you, closely, mellemin" he said nodding in Boromir's direction.  


"Shall we give him something to watch" Eruanna asked, trying to not look too pleased with herself. Legolas looked at her and stroked her cheek. Eruanna lent in and her lips brushed his. His hand ran up her back and wound into her hair. She wrapped her arms round his neck and their kiss deepened. She heard Boromir grunt in annoyance before the soft rustle of stones indicated he had turned away.

 "I think he's got the message" she said breathlessly. Legolas smiled and kissed her again.

"Would you like me to stop now?" he said against her lips.

"No, never" Eruanna giggled, pulling on his braid gingerly. Legolas pulled her onto his lap, cradling her there as the first rays of dawn disrupted night’s long song.

“You said earlier it was no all his fault, what do you mean?” Her love asked after a moment.

“His mind is changing and becoming darker, I fear the honour of Boromir, son of Denethor is fading and will continue till this quest ends.” She answered, her eyes settling on the sleeping man. “And at the same time the darkness in me is lifting. I fear this will not end well for us.”

“It will end well, while there is love and hope, there is still a chance of a happy ending.” Legolas answered, biting her ear to make her smile. Eruanna rested her head on his chest and said nothing more, leaving the silence to fill their thoughts.

* * *

 

Legolas felt the jealous eyes of Boromir boring into his soul even when the man was faced the other way. He kissed Eruanna gently before telling her he had to collect fire wood. She mumbled an irritable complaint but nothing more. Once out of earshot he waited calmly in the shade of an overhanging tree. Boromir appeared not long after.

"What you tried to do was wrong" Legolas told him, the anger that had been building still threatening to erupt. The shame on the man's face intensified as he spoke the words and Legolas felt pity for the man.

"I did not know her heart belonged to you, I thought she might..." Boromir he began before letting his voice trail off.

"Her heart belongs to herself, who she will lend it to be her choice, you almost got yourself killed trying to imprison it," Legolas responded, “Take my advice and heed it, do not speak to her unless she speaks to you unless you wish to lose your tongue.”

"And what about your heart. Are you lending it to her?" Boromir snapped, envy evident in his tone.  

"I gave her my heart when I first met her, I did not give her cold words of her inferiority due to her sex at every chance I got" Legolas reminded him. The usual elvish serenity was wearing thin and despite him hoping not to argue, it was turning into just that. Boromir looked ashamed.

"What do you want me to do?" he asked.

"Apologize then stop perusing her affections" Legolas said, anger building up inside him.

"And what if I don't?" Boromir asked. Legolas lost it and his fist connected with the man’s face. Boromir groaned and clutched at his face glaring at him. "One more word and I'll do it again" Legolas snapped, trying to retrain the contempt within him.

"Very well, I care not for her” the man muttered. Satisfied he wouldn't disturb Eruanna again he set off collect firewood with Boromir trailing after, the anger cooling quickly and he found himself apologising for his behaviour. The man replied that it was forgotten and the conversation turned to merrier things for a while.

* * *

 

Boromir returned with his nose a bloody mess. His eye severely swollen and he seemed to have gained a pathetic false limp. Legolas returned with an angelic smile on his face. She sighed and began to help load the goods. She saw the startled looks the others gave the man and they all turned to look at her. She shrugged and carried on packing. It was going to be a long journey. Boromir stepped tentatively towards her and glanced over at the elf who nodded.

"I wanted to apologise for my actions earlier... they were wrong, I was not in my right mind and I'm sorry" he said softly, keeping his eyes lowered. She studied his face before deciding he was being genuine and went back to loading the boat.

"That's it. Not one word of acknowledgment?" Boromir asked, his vanity getting the better of him once more. Eruanna's head snapped round and she stepped forward to meet his eyes.

"You want acknowledgement Boromir. If you were one of my kind you would be tied to a stake and burned alive for what you did, how about that for acknowledgment." she hissed.

"Eruanna that's enough" Aragorn interjected, pushing her backwards and out of Boromir’s reach. She turned away then kicked the nearest boat, screaming furiously, spraying rock in all direction as the other members of the fellowship looked on in alarm. Boromir snorted and turned back to his boat

"One more word Boromir and I'll slit your throat" she threatened before throwing the rest of the gear into the front of the boat and getting in. Already the day was turning grey and it looked like rain. Eruanna hoped that it would pour down so the boats might fill up and Boromir drown but the day continued with no such luck.


	16. Chapter 15: The Breaking Of The Fellowship

Dawn broke early and it seemed winter was setting in. There was a slight frost on the earth and all the world held in suspense as tiny ice particles danced on the remains of an autumn breeze. It was not yet past October by Gimli's reckoning but as dwarves lived underground and rarely saw the change in seasons, Legolas had struck up an argument and most of the company has dispersed until it was over.

Eruanna watched Frodo for some time; He seemed caught up in his thoughts. Daybreak had brought new problems to the company and with Aragorn waving his authority tyrannically around the group she had wandered away for solitude only to find her spot stolen by a halfling.

"What troubles you" Eruanna asked, the hobbit looked up startled then gave her a nervous smile.

"It just something I was told" he said warily. Eruanna nodded, he did not wish to say what he was thinking, but he was troubled.

"Why are you avoiding me?" she said softly, settling down beside him.

"I don't trust you" he answered, "You are someone who would betray all her fiends for the sake of her own life."

"You are wiser than some in is company" she confessed. "You don't deny that you would" Frodo questioned.

"I have thought often of how easy it would to kill you and take the ring" Frodo backed away, his fingers already at the hilt of sting, "I mean you no harm, it has merely crossed my mind" Eruanna confessed before deciding an explanation was more than necessary.

 "Long ago my sister killed a man of Gondor who possessed the ring... I covered it up for as long as I could but I slowly saw what it was doing to her, she was erratic and I no longer recognized her as my sister. I have seen the struggles you have faced Frodo and for that reason I would not take the ring for my own. I want to live with my will and by not another's, I came on this mission to make sure this task was done, not to use it for my own gain. To what purpose would that serve, if the ring was in my hands even morgoth himself would fall. I will not touch the ring, no unless I think you will fail this task." She explained, hoping that this alone would ensure he took heed of her words and did not consider the impossible task of going alone.

"I thank you for your council, I see things more clearly now, you have been helpful," the halfling told her then scurrying away to the other hobbits. Eruanna frowned in confusion before deciding not to pry further. She walked over to where Gimli and Legolas stood talking.

"Keep an eye on him. I fear he is to leave our company and travel alone" she whispered to them both. Gimli frowned at her, despite the dwarf occasionally speaking with her, he still refrained from long conversations but it was better than it had been at the start of the quest.

"And why would he do that?" he growled. She just shrugged at the dwarf and gave Legolas a wry glance. The elf smiled gently.

"We will keep an eye on him, though I cannot see why you won't" Legolas murmured, squeezing her hand reassuringly.

"I'm going to scout the area... besides shiny objects and vulnerable people aren’t my strong suit" She said simply. Satisfied Legolas turned back to Gimli and continued his conversation.

The forests surrounding the shores where vast in size with great green leaves that blocked out most of the sun and stole all warmth the sun could gift. She climbed higher up the sloping landscape. There was a chill about the air, great wisps of invisible cold drifted from place to place. The trees breathed softly, their leaves waving delicately and hesitantly in the occasional breeze. There was nothing to be heard or seen so she wandered lazily back to the group, stopping to eat the blackberries she found in a rock cove.

* * *

 

 On her return it was clear that all was not well. The company sat arguing among themselves about what should be done and which route was best to take. She sat down on the edge of the group and studied each face. The hobbits where quiet and listening to Boromir and Aragorn argue about whether the ring would be safe in Gondor. Legolas has joined in on Aragorn's side and Gimli was agreement with Boromir.

"Neither one is a good route in my opinion" Eruanna interjected; "The marshes are hard to cross and many lose their lives. There is no real route if we go to Gondor save a dark passage were no one travels."

"Then which way would you go." Boromir snapped, spittle flying in her direction as he stood up to argue his case better.

"Nowhere near your city," she retorted venomously, wiping the man’s saliva off her face and looking up at him in disgust.

"What would you have us do Eruanna" Aragorn asked calmly, handing her a small damp map.

"Oh, you want my opinion now" Eruanna answered irritably, dropping the sodden parchment in the fire. It was a small act of rebellion but it cheered her up enormously.

"Eruanna!" Legolas rebuked, his bright blue eyes turning dangerously like the fire the map now burned merrily in.

"I'm not sorry." Eruanna huffed, "Now when things are hard you all want my help."

"I value your opinion" Aragorn replied, signalling her to sit nearer.

"Fine. There is a secret passage through the mountains surrounding Mordor, it is only known to my people as we built it to spy on our enemy" Eruanna was about to explain when Sam interrupted.

"Where is Frodo?" He asked. They all looked around but there was no sign of him. Dread crept into the back of her mind.

Eruanna watched the panic around the camp, Frodo had gone. She could hear orcs snarling wildly, their heavy footfall getting closer by the second. Looking around fear for the others tightened her stomach in its iron fist and it began to reach a level she had never known before, Frodo, where was Frodo?

“Never mind the hobbit, what about the ring?” she thought, stitching up her blade and preparing to fetch the halfling back by force if necessary.

 

* * *

 

  
She ran up the forest track, checking for footprints all the way. Were the others where, she did not know, she did not care. The orcs poured out from behind the tree's, Eruanna began to panic as they drew her swords, there where to many for her alone at least if she used natural combat, Eruanna sheathed her sword, deciding that it was no use against so many then looked at them all in the eyes; pity filled her heart but she raised her hand anyway.

"Lathen keairn skalim, issure rachenal deome" Eruanna chanted gritted her teeth as an agonizing bolt of power flew down her arm and engulfed the orcs, the creatures howled in pain, the smell was revolting.

Burnt flesh scent filled the cool air like the burning of a town under siege. Eruanna's eyes widened at the scene before her, there was nothing left of the orc's, her breath was laboured and she felt frail, her head spun, it had been far too long since she had used strong forms of magic and it debilitated her. She knelt in attempt to regain her strength watching the purple flames lick the dead corpses. There was utter calm. Smoke billowed all around blacking and heating the cool air. Ash fell about her like the rain of a thousand winters past, she breathed it in slowly, not caring that it harmed her throat, only wanting the pain to be over so she could fight on.

A clear trumpet broke the silence. "Boromir" Eruanna thought, lifting her head weakly to the sound, vision blurred, staggering in the direction of the noise. Orcs poured down the hillside and she struggled to fight them off alone, her sword arm felt heavy and she found her movements clumsy. Aragorn showed her out-of-the-way as an arrow sailed past where she had stood. He got to his feet quickly and drew his sword.

She glowered at him, "A thank you would be nice" he said slicing off the head of the nearest orc before running off.

 "I had it under control" she yelled after him, clambering to her feet and following him in the direction of the horn.

The horn had stopped its call and when she reached where its pure sound had come from she saw a sight that made her eyes sting with tears. Eruanna blinked them away, she did not wish cry and she could not bring herself to weep false tears for him. He did not deserve her tears, his actions towards her had been of ill choice, and were not wholly of his own judgment but he had still done them and she could never forgive or forget it. Boromir lay silently lent against a tree, his body broken. Aragorn wept beside his friend. Legolas and Gimli had bowed their heads in respect. Eruanna walked towards Aragorn, her heart told her they needed to leave.

Gently she placed her hand on his shoulder, "come away, there is nothing you can do for him now. You belong with the living, let the dead rest" She said, bending down beside the man before removing the arrows from the sleeping Boromir.

Aragorn stood, "We should not leave him like this" he said finally, slotting his sword back in its place.

"Then let us lay him to sleep in the river" Legolas said. Aragorn nodded, she turned away, walking back to the river and she watched two hobbits cross to the other bank, the lure to follow them was strong but it did not feel right.

“Then again nothing does…” she thought, gathering up what goods were left and packing them into her small satchel.

Eruanna watched the boat slip over the falls carrying Boromir's cold body away to the sea. The lapping of the small waves on the shore echoed the sadness in the hearts of the remaining fellowship. Aragorn and Legolas sang a lament for their lost friend. While Eruanna silently said a prayer:

"Darkness calls  
And my heart stolen,  
You who have wronged me  
We shall meet again,  
And upon the cold call of winter,  
In the darkest dreams,  
In the coldest halls,  
We shall meet again as friends  
And you will be forgiven.

Sleep well son of man,  
Child of sunlight and warmth,  
Know peace once more,  
As I never will,  
Be with those you hold dear.

For soon this world will end in fire and smoke,  
And you will be glad that this world is a passing memory."

"It's over" Eruanna said sullenly, her eyes still watching the eastern shore for any sign or excuse to follow.

"We have failed them, the fellowship is broken" Gimli said.

"No" Eruanna heard herself say, “we are still the fellowship… we have a different task now.”

"We still have hope and we may trust in it" Legolas added.

"We cannot leave Merry and Pippin to torment and death" Aragorn decided.

"Then we must hurry" Legolas said, "Time does not tarry forever but change and growth is not in all things and places alike. For the Elves the world moves and it moves both very swift and very slow. Swift, because they change little, and all else fleets by: it is a grief to them. Slow, because they do not count the running years, not for themselves."

"Then we are wasting time with our sentimental speeches and long words" Eruanna replied. “While we talk, the halflings get further and further away.”

"Come let us hunt some orc" Aragorn ordered in agreement. Eruanna followed them slowly; glancing back at the small shaped disappearing into the trees on the opposite bank. "Stay safe for the sake of my kin if nothing else" she muttered, before running up a dusty track after the disappearing forms of a man, and elf and a dwarf.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lathen keairn skalim, issure rachenal deome- (Narian) Fire light the way, ash my enemy in the frey


	17. Eris, Sister? I Thought You'd Gone

They watched the sun set over the hills, their emotions in a state of disarray after the two days chaise. Never before had Eruanna felt so tired and yet still she was awake with the owls and starlight. They had stopped had stopped for a rest but every second they refreshed themselves could be vital seconds lost. The air was thick and the silence so pure it made her afraid to breathe.

"We should not be resting" Legolas said as he stood beside her.

Hush yourself, I have friends watching the orcs as we speak, they are safe for now, do not worry yourself, you should get some rest" Eruanna said, her eyes fixed on the huge sun that was sinking on the horizon. The elf looked at her, a look of bewilderment on his face as Eruanna took his hand gently, "tis another day tomorrow, all will be revealed," she answered, giving him a small mysterious smile.

The elf nodded before prying his hand from her and wrapping it round her waist. Eruanna snuggled up to him, resting her head on his shoulder.

"The days are becoming crueller. Will you be going back to your people soon my love?" Legolas asked. Eruanna looked at him from her cosy place under his arm.

"No. Not ever, I will not leave this world to destruction when my own has suffered in the same way and I can't leave you, I fear there will be no easy road for you after this war is over" Eruanna replied. Legolas looked slightly confused but said nothing else. Eruanna sighed; it would be a dark day before another world was destroyed because of her people's selfishness.

 

* * *

 

Screams echoed round the forest track. Arrows flew in all directions. A young woman with hair like jet and eyes the colour of blood screamed a battle cry. Eris, crown princess of Termoree screamed orders at the hunting party as the massacred the small group of men. Her sister stood watching in horror as her friends and family set upon the royal march. Isildur vanished. Straining her eyes she saw her sister aim and arrow at the water. Blood billowed up around an invisible corpse. Eris cheered and signalled for two young guards to drag the body from the water. She held up a gold ring and smiled to herself. She then ordered the other guards to find some orcs to cover up the truth of the massacre. Once she thought herself alone she cut open the kings chest and removed his still beating heart. Eruanna watched her sister gorge herself on the king's heart before removing all evidence that it was a naira attack. Eruanna wiped away her tears and turned away. She wandered through the blackening forest with no sense of where she was going. Her heart ached with the pain of what she has seen. Her sister was corrupt. There was nothing to do but turn her in along with all those who had aided her. A fortnight later the ring had been cast into the river. Eris had escaped and all those who had aided her in the attack burnt alive and Eruanna had been sentenced to exile for protecting her sister.

 

* * *

 

Eruanna now stared out into the loud darkness, remembering all that had happened. It had been so long ago that most had forgotten it but she never would. Not the blood-stained grass or the red running river. Not the words that passed her lips and sentenced her sister to exile. Nor would she forget what the ring had done to her once virtuous people and what it had stripped her of. It had taken her titles, her land and all she possessed for it had set in motion the rebellion that had caused the new king to seize power and lower her station to a captain. The highest rank of captain but nothing more than a humble leader. She knew in her heart that while she was at such a low position, marriage to Legolas would be impossible unless her uncle was murdered.

This set a new train of thought siding thought her mind. Thranduil was well-known for finding wealthy brides for his sons. Wealthy brides of a similar position and class of which she used to belong to. Then a truly dreadful thought crossed her mind. A truly treasonous and desperate thought.

"What is the king where to have a nasty accident and met an untimely demise?" She thought to herself.

"Why then you would become queen for there is no other known heir to the throne" the sly voice in the back of her mind said.

"I couldn't" Eruanna chided herself.

"But you have done it before" chortled the voice. "To your own father no less." Eruanna's stomach twisted.

"And if my plan had gone the right way I would be queen now and not that filthy wretch" she hissed angrily.

"Think of all the power" continued the voice. "The respect and recognition, you would never have to hide again." Eruanna thought long about such a pleasing idea, and then a painful thought slapped her back to reality.

"You couldn't have Legolas" she sighed.

"Why?" hissed the voice, "With all that power he could not leave your side."

"Exactly, he would die of misery and I would fall into despair. That is not the queen my people need" she answered. The voice was silent.

It was now dark and the fire dimmed, Eruanna slipped from the elf's warm hold and place a log on the fire.

"I pray that they will be ok" Legolas sighed, startling her for she had thought him resting, his blue eyes glittered sadly in the light of the fire.

She smiled reassuringly; "I do too and I believe that are ok but Eru forgive the orcs if they come to harm." She frowned, something felt very wrong; she did not feel the stars protection anymore. Eruanna glanced up, there were no stars, nor was there any cloud. A feeling that something bad was about to happen stalked her mind and crawled like ice up her spine. Shaking it off, Eruanna snuck a look at Legolas; he had his back turned to her. Rising to her feet, Eruanna slipped behind a rock, and pulled a dagger from her belt. Dragging it down her palm, Eruanna grit her teeth, she had sworn to her friends never to do this again but here she was, calling out to her sister across the world, it was too late to turn back. She would find out the answers to the bad feelings that plagued her sleep, even if it meant losing her freedom, it would save those she cared about. It would save Middle earth.

* * *

 

When the starts were at their brightest she slipped away from the group and down the valley. A black mist surrounded her and subsided leaving a young woman standing in front of her.

"Sister. You are risking much bringing me here" Eris told her, stepping forward to embrace her sister in her arms. Eruanna reached for her dagger instinctive. "Always so full of suspicion" cooed Eris.

"I trusted you once sister" Eruanna reminded her.

"I know, what happened to that faith?" her sister asked.

"We wanted different things" Eruanna said simply. Her sisters blazed red eyes softened for a moment then the cool steely hate returned.

"You chose to serve a king who has scared you in so many ways and I chose to be free" Eris snapped.

"You killed an innocent man" Eruanna retorted, already regretting calling the woman from the dark shadows in which she lurked.

"You've killed thousands of innocent people... and not just men, women and children to and for what, a place of power and respect" Eris snarled back.

"I never asked to become the heir to the throne. You decided that when you betrayed me" Eruanna said softly.

"You stole my birth right. You want a favour I can never give you" Eris said icily.

"I want to know how to forget how to be afraid not to gain your forgiveness; I gave up a long time ago with that" Eruanna spat.

"You’re afraid little sister? Of what?" Eris questioned smugly.

"The fate of our kin" Eruanna sighed.

"You mean the ring has been recovered" Eris inquired.

"It is out of your reach is that is what you had hoped" Eruanna informed her.

"Fear is inescapable but it is conquerable" Her sister told her.

"How?" she asked.

"That is for you to work out. You where the rational and logical one once Eruanna, you work it out" Eris hissed before letting the smoke claim her once again.

"Eris wait" Eruanna whispered but her sister was gone before she had time to blink. Vanished into her imagination once more. _Fool. You have no family._

 _“_ I have a brother and my sister… I have Elrénia and Devae…” Eruanna muttered. Where her sibling where she had no idea, they had vanished into the story books a long time ago but they were not yet dead. Turning back to the fire, Eruanna settled to take first watch and resolved to forget Eris entirely.


	18. Not Everyone Is Happy To See You Gandalf

It was the birds that woke her. The annoying high pitched squall of a thousand beaks broke through the pleasant warmth of rest so that Eruanna was awake before Legolas shook her gently to stir her.

"We have to go now" he informed her, handing the wine skin to her. She refused it, already missing what should have been in the skin instead of water.

"Do we have to? I was quite happy here" she mumbled snuggling further into the grass.

"Is she going to join us or are we going to have to wait for her to regain  _her_  strength" Gimli demanded.

Eruanna's eyes snapped open. She wasn't going to let a dwarf better her, looking at her hand it had been bandaged as she had slept. She looked at the elf; he smiled, but did not ask questions. She knew what they thought. They thought she was consolidating with her king, telling him all she knew, she had heard them talking earlier.

"She's betraying us" Gimli had decided.

"She wouldn't do that, she's just not adjusting well that is all" Legolas had snapped, though he seemed doubtful of himself.

"Whatever she was doing and whatever you saw Legolas, we cannot trust her, her connections to those who would seek to rule over these lands are too great, I know you care for her but you have to put the lives of all before her selfish desires for power" Aragorn had told him.

"She does not want power" Legolas had hissed.

"Then would you care to explain to me how her father who was king is murdered but she will not say who by when she knows exactly who" Aragorn had asked calmly. _He knows._

"I am not selfish" she told herself standing before walking over to the others. Legolas handed her some Lembas, she studied it before wolfing it down ravenously, the comforting warmth spreading through her body.

"How far ahead are they?" Eruanna asked Aragorn.

"The orcs did not stop last night, some leagues away yet, we shall not stop till we catch up now" the man answered. Eruanna scooped up her cloak from the ground, and fastened it round her neck. The landscape rolled on for miles and miles with no sign of any life. Reluctantly she followed the others who were already jogging down the hill, the sunrise was blood red and she heard Legolas mutter something, but heard not what he said.

Gimli was well behind; Eruanna glanced over her shoulder and slowed down to wait for him. She may not think much of most dwarfs but Gimli was an exception on occasion, they had been having a wordless completion between them, both had challenged the other to see how far they could run without stopping, so far she had already lost twice but it was down to her leg which seemed to not have fully repaired itself yet or she hoped it was. It was then she heard hoof beats. She frowned and glanced back to where Legolas and Aragorn had now stopped to check the skyline. Smoke in the distance set alarm bells ringing in her mind. Nearer though where the horses.

"Men" she muttered grimly and Aragorn gave her a cold look. Up the hill came horses with riders, fully armoured and ready for battle. They retreated back up the slope and behind some rocks. The riders passed at great speed.

  
To Eruanna's amazement, Aragorn began to move towards where the riders now circled.

"What are you doing" she hissed, grabbing the man’s belt to stop him from gaining the attention of the riders.

"Seeking aid" was the man's response and he unbelted the leather strap before running out to meet the beating hooves. She looked at the two other companions who had also gotten up to follow.

"Will you be coming Eruanna? Or will you be hiding behind a rock" Gimli remarked. Her blood boiled at the insult of the word coward and she scrambled out from behind the rock.

"Mind they don't knock your head off dwarf, you do seem like the right height for them to not see you" she told him innocently. Gimli gave a furious bellow and grabbed her by the knees in an attempt to knock her over.

"Eruanna, that was uncalled for" Legolas scolded, detaching the fuming dwarf from her knees as she laughed.

"I was just being blunt" she answered coolly.

"Riders of rohan what news from the mark?" Aragorn called. Eruanna followed him, cautiously watching the horsemen. They were good people, but they hated her kin, Eruanna had been told as a young girl they would burn naira children in their beds if they got the chance and where not reliable folk. The horsemen swiftly circled them, lowering their spears. She felt like she had been caught between giant's sharp teeth there were so many and there was nowhere to run. Legolas pushed her behind him.

"I can look after myself" She muttered indignantly, though if the story's where true it was better that she was not seen. All stories' had to come from somewhere. An arrogant voice broke her train of thoughts.

"What business does an elf, a man and a dwarf, have in the riddemark, speak quickly." She peered out from behind Legolas's shoulder. The man who spoke was dressed in fine armour and bore a helmet of one of high status.

"I wonder who he is" she mused; it was hard to observe a face that was covered by metal so she gave up and turned back to the conversation at hand.

"Give me your name horse master, and I will give you mine" Gimli said. Eruanna pulled up her hood concealing her face from the man's view, not that he had seen her but some of the other men were starting to look uneasy.

  
"I would cut of you head dwarf, if it stood but a little higher from the ground" the man said, Eruanna glowered at him from under the hood and reached for her blade automatically but paused in mild amusement.

 “I warned you Gimli…” she muttered, grinning at him before tugging on the hood more to hide from prying eyes. Legolas had been far quicker than she had and his arrow was already taught in his bow.

"You would die before your stroke fell" he said almost snarling, she smirked to herself and began to fiddle with the end of a spear.

"Only I get to threaten the dwarf" she thought cheerfully as the man backed away and ordered the spears to be tightened around them.

“I am Aragorn son of Arathorn, this is Gimli son of Gloin and Legolas of the woodland realm" Aragorn said. The spears where getting far too close to her for her liking and she batted one away forgetting she was supposed to be staying hidden.

"And who is this" the rohan male said coldly. Sighing, she lowered her hood and stepped out from behind her companions. "I am Eruanna from the house of Cultas and you must be mouse son of rat?" Eruanna answered calmly, giving him one of her best innocent looks.

"I am Eomer, king Théoden's nephew, and if you had any respect you would apologise now" Eomer spat.

"I never apologise." Eruanna informed him haughtily.

"We are friends of Théoden, your king" Aragorn interrupted.

"King Théoden no longer recognises friend from enemy, not even his own kin" Eomer said, removing his helmet. Eruanna thought him attractive for a man, copper hair and eyes bright as diamond but his attitude was as stale as bread could go.

The man signalled for the spears to be raised and she sighed as the tension in the air lessened.

"Pray what do you do in these lands with a Naira in tow" he said mockingly.

"We track a party of uraki across your lands, they have taken two of their friend's captive" Eruanna informed him tersely, pulling out a dagger and starting to play catch with it.

Eomer looked at her with contempt but replied "the uraki were slaughtered during the night."

Gimli spluttered "did you see two hobbits;"

“They would be small only children to your eyes." Aragorn added.

Eomer shook his head; "we left none alive, Im sorry, we burnt the carcasses" he pointed to smoke rising in the distance.

"Dead" Gimli muttered with a heavy heart. Eruanna frowned, the face of every rider reflected same thought "I never saw a hobbit." Eruanna thought this odd; if they were dead then someone surly killed them and carried them to the pile. By now the riders were leaving, two horses were brought to them.

"May these horses bring you to better fortune then their former masters" Eomer said and with that he mounted his horse. "Look for your friends. Do not trust in hope, it is forsaken in these lands" he advised Aragorn, and then to his men "We ride north."

Eruanna mounted the horse on which Aragorn sat for Gimli could not ride. The man seemed wary but did not protest as she had expected and he held out his hand to help her up. Looking at her friends faces there was little hope in their eyes.

"Please be alive, I didn’t waste the last week of my life for you to die" she prayed, gazing out to fangorn. Its dark leafy webs becoming clouded in smoke; cutting her off from that of her kin. They arrived late that day and began frantically searching the ground surrounding the pyre to no avail. She watched the smouldering pile of orc, the stench was almost unbearable. Her home was so nearby, the city of her kind that protected the banished from all who would seek to exact harm upon them... Maybe she should slip away.

It would be a welcome release from the nights of uneasy sleep, not knowing whether she would have her throat cut by her companions was unbreakable. At least she knew it was likely when her company where of her own kind. After a moment's thought she decided against it, she could not leave them, more to the point she was beginning to trust them and she was enjoying it. Aragorn was looking for signs that they were alive, already she gazed at the trees; they called to her, their limbs beckoning, inviting her within the safety of the forest; calling her to embrace the darkness once more.

* * *

 

There were many tales told of fangorn yet few were true, her people lived quietly and out of prying eyes of mortals and immortals alike, the only real bloodshed was that of rival groups battling with one another and it usually ended with both sides being executed. There were no real laws save those which the king felt inclined to enforce every so often and when stray folk form distant lands did come creeping round their territory, they showed them what happened to strays that crept to far from home. There was one rule that most abided by no matter what it was that they were not to look for trouble for it would come to them; this she knew was a good idea but paid no attention to it, it was a small release from the chains of living in an elevated role. The party stood looking fearfully into the forest, its blackness called to her, beckoning her into its encysting depths. Gimli called it madness to enter.

Smiling to herself Eruanna strode forward, glancing back she called to them; "Are you going to stand there like wet saps or are you coming to find the hobbits?" They needed little more encouragement and plunged into the darkness after her.

What seemed like hours passed and Eruanna wondered if Aragorn had lost the tracks, she let her mind wonder to when she was a child, such adventures would have been exciting but now, battle worn, scarred in body and in soul, Eruanna knew differently- this was a matter of life or death. This was a realm of monsters and magic. Of tyrants and slave dealers. It was also a land of people with military decent borne to worship the nobility and serve and protect their king with heart and body. It was the one place she should never go back to. Legolas's voice dragged her back to the present.

"You can hear the trees speak to one another, soft voices in the air" he breathed. "

It is magic Legolas. Just as you desired to see when we first met" she said, running her hands along the bark of a broken tree.

"Such memory under these trees" he murmured appreciatively.

"What do trees have to talk about?" Gimli complained.

"You would be surprised master dwarf." Eruanna muttered; glad that one of the company appreciated the beauty of her home however temporary it had been.

"Aragorn, nad no ennas" Legolas hissed. Eruanna looked up grabbing her sword, hoping it was not a Naira looking for an easy meal.

"Man cenich?" Aragorn asked.

"The white wizard approaches" Legolas replied softly. Wizard was a word her people loathed with all their hearts, though she had little quarrel with them save minor disagreement regarding morality. They drew their weapons ready to strike.

A light shone before them and from it a voice came from it, Legolas released his arrow but it flew away into the trees, Aragorn dropped his sword and Gimli's axe splintered.

"You are tracking the footsteps of two young hobbits, the passed this way the day before yesterday" the voice said. Eruanna knew that voice; her heart stopped cold.

"Show yourself!" Aragorn commanded, the light faded.

"Gandalf" gasped Aragorn, disbelief written upon his face.

"You're supposed to be dead" Eruanna blurted before being rewarded with a shocked looks from her friends.

"Forgive me. I mistook you for Saruman" Legolas said, kneeling. Gimli copied him and bowed his head. She drew a withered breath. She had only just begun to earn the trust of her companions and the wizard would interfere.

They trusted her judgment and so had the wizard at times but never had they trusted in her behaviour and they had every right not to but she could not help wanting them to accept her. Her younger self would have laughed at this desire and called her a fool and a dependant. Her younger self was gone and had been foolish and in its place was something exiting and different. Her companions would not trust her or trust her while she had ties to her uncle and the other noble houses for she could feed them information of the war. It was time to undo those ties… after she taught the wizard a subtle lesson.

 

Seizing the opportunity, Eruanna grabbed the wizards beard very ungracefully by the bearded and pulled him down to her level. Gandalf let out a little “ummph” of alarm and her companions froze with amazement.

“Who the hell do you think you are? You really think you can waltz back in here after dying and expect everyone to worship you? Do you know what I have had to put up with since you ’died’? No of course you don’t, you’ve been busy partying with Galadriel and Celeborn while I’ve been busting by arse trying to save you midget friends. Thank you for your wonderful lack of help. We don’t need you, goodbye.” Eruanna ranted then clapping her hands so a vine shot down and grabbed the wizard by his ankles, flipping him upside down before stalking off several paces then turning round to start up another tirade.

“And another thing. You don’t even bring me any wine when you decide to show up. Poor Aragorn had to deal with me and Boromir fighting, he sure could have used something but no, you turn up looking like a luminous moth and think I’m going to be pleased.” With that, she screamed in annoyance and sat down on a log to sulk while the wizard swung backwards and forwards as gravity pulled the skirt of his robe down to earth to reveal very pale white legs. Eruanna snorted in irritation and kicked the dirt.

A small musical tinkle filled the air, breaking the silence. Legolas was laughing, he was laughing so hard he was clutching stomach doubled over with the effort of not falling over.  Eruanna’s face broke into a smile and she allowed herself a little laugh as Aragorn cut down the wizard who was red in the face from embarrassment.

“You should have asked Lindir Gandalf…” Legolas chuckled, grinning at the wizard who Aragorn was helping down from the trap.

“What was that?” Gimli asked softly, Eruanna scowled sulkily at him.

“I was merely being friendly…”

Gandalf frowned at her before shaking his head; she caught the word ‘Naira’ in the stream of mutterings but chose to ignore it. It was better that she heard what he had to say before removing his head. She settled herself on a tree root and focused on sharpening her blade, time was running out and she needed to leave the forest. Already she felt her people’s eyes upon them. They would not let her leave without a fight. It was time for a plan.

 


	19. Did You Miss Me?

Gandalf's tales had always been long, but it seemed an age before he had finished. When the story was over, however, she felt something she had never felt before. It was a kind of admiration for the trials he had faced for one small hobbits success. More to the point; she began to understand that the stories she knew about others could be just stories.

 

They were to go to Edoras. Eruanna loathed the halls of Edoras. Though she had only ever seen it from afar, they reminded her of her father's palace - only less grand and murky, she was thought of as a princess then, only she had been a prisoner, a slave to her fathers will, blind to his faults. Only now she was free and she loved it that way.

 

 _Am I free though? I am a servant to a war lord king. My uncle has taken my father's place and things seem no better_. She asked herself.  _Perhaps I will not be missed for a few hours… I could pay my beloved family a visit and find out how my kin fare_  she mused. Eruanna watched the smiles on her companion's faces and she decided that a few hours was little sacrifice on her part. The halflings were in no imminent danger now from what the wizard had said, and she would not be missed too much. It would be an interesting test to see if they would wait for her. She began to slip out of sight when Aragorn called to her to remain with them.

 

"I will be back within a few hours, you needn't wait for me, I have something to sort out." Eruanna replied, smiling gleefully as she heard Gimli mutter: "Of all the selfish, stubborn and untrusting people in this world she has got to be the worst."  _Like you can talk._

 

The great grey stone walls of the citadel where easy to find if you knew where to look. Two centenary towers loomed above her and she ducked out of sight of the guards. She ran along the outside of the wall till she came to a small grassy patch and searched for the passage entrance. On finding the trapdoor she wriggled down into the tight corridor that lead to the castle dungeons. Being the king’s most trusted guard had its perks like full access to the city maps and she had memorised them all in detail.

 

 Screams and bellows came from high above, but the Naria passed like she’d heard nothing more than a casual conversations in the barracks. She slipped up into the cellar that joined the prisons and donned on the uniform of her regiment. Her brother would be easy to find if she could find out which taverns he hadn't been banned from. Her uncle and younger sister now turned aunt and recent queen would be more difficult to talk to. The soldier guarding the cells gave her a respectful nod and turned back to his duties.  _They see the uniform but not the person who wears it,_  Eruanna thought sadly. Through the stone halls she wandered before reaching the courtroom door.

 

"You cannot go in. The court is in session." A guard told her mechanically, like he’d repeated the message several times a day. She sighed and leant on a corner stone mulling over all that she could do. She could kill him. Smash his skull against the stone and reclaim the throne in the name of her father. Yet it was not her uncle who had killed her father as she had led so many to believe.

 

That throne was a burden placed upon any who sat upon it. She could take it and rule her people as her father had wanted. It had never been what she had  _wanted_ , he had often convinced her it was, but a crown limited freedom and the passions of the everyday people whom she had more interest in. If you happened to be of noble blood you believed that everyone owed you everything, it was why so many of the ancient houses where dying. They strayed beyond safety and were slaughtered by those who disagreed with them.

After an hour of waiting she began to tire of patience. "Would you tell the king I am come?" She asked of the guard. Once again he refused to allow her to see her uncle, then a wicked thought entered her mind.

 

"Do you know who I am  _boy_? I am the captain of the king’s most trusted guard. I demand that you let me speak with the King or I shall have all your relatives put to death. Before I do the same to you, of course." Eruanna threatened, a sickly sweet smile coming over her lips. His face turned pale beneath his helmet and he nodded.

 

"I will do what I can, captain." He mumbled, voice trembling, before entering the council chamber. She listened closely at the door.

 

"There is a soldier here to see you my king." came the guards' voice.

 

"Who are they? What is their name?", Commanded what seemed to be her uncle.

 

"She never gave a name." The guard responded.

 

"What did this guard look like?" asked the king.

 

"She was of plain appearance, your grace, far from our beauty, but she wears the uniform of the elite and claims to be the captain…though the captain have been missing for an age." The guard informed him.

 

"I am aware,” The king replied dryly. “Send her in. I would hear what she has to say." He commanded. Eruanna raised the hood on her cloak, concealing her face in shadow.

 

"He wants to see you now…" The guard told her once he had returned. She stalked into the grand marble room and walked across it, letting her boots muddy the intercut pearl flooring.

 

"Lower your hood and tell me what you came here to say" The king commanded, leaning forward in the gold throne. She lowered her hood.

 

"Hello uncle. Have you missed me?"

 

* * *

 

Silence followed, filling every corner of the cavern like room. Broken only by the scrabbling of claws as the dog-size dragon, pale smoke rising from it’s a-jar jaws. Eruanna had always hated the beast, it was the kings hunting dragon and had a temper to rival her own. She glared into it’s bronze eyes, unflinching, as it’s muddy brown tail flicked back and forth, scraping across ruby encrusted floor.

 

" _You_. You are  _dead_. I saw to it that you and your brother would never come back. " Her uncle hissed after a very long time. The dragon-fire burn covered almost half his face on the right side, turning it leathery and cracked. His eye had turned milky, but Eruanna could see the fury hidden in the pupil floating beneath it’s curdled surface.

 

"Nay, I fear the rumours of my death had been greatly exaggerated.” She replied calmly, for once keeping old of her anger. “You saw that I was given a high position in the army before cursing me to suffer titles I do not want so that I would find my duties hard to complete. You saw my brother marry the richest woman you could find so that you could whore your way around the entire population after squandering your own wealth on trivial objects and gifts to women who would never bed you otherwise. You did not get rid of me though, uncle, you merely lost me in a world that is alien to you." She said bitterly, knuckles cracking as her fingers curled into fists.

 

"What do you want?" he said, his scarred face growing paler by the second.

"I want my curse to end. I want you to accept my full resignation from court. I want my inheritance my father left me and I want no more part in this world." She answered.

"What madness has driven you to give up all of your titles? You will be cut off from all you love if you do this." The king warned her.

 

"I have found people  _I_  can grow to love and trust. It only dawned on me this morning. I do not love you. I do not love these hellish laws. I do not love not being able to trust in anyone but myself. I will retain my post as captain of the guard but I will no longer attend court as your niece only as your advisor in military affairs." She snapped.

 

"You will never go home to Termoree." He added coyly. A sting of anguish filled her heart.

_If I look back I am lost._

"I don't care" she whispered. Her uncle raised an eyebrow before reluctantly standing and drawing his sword to cut away a tread from the tree that grew beside him.

 

"Eruanna, eighteenth daughter of Amaranth. I hereby proclaim you an outcast of the nobility. You shall serve under my name but receive no favours or kind words. You are no longer my bloodline. You will no longer make claim to any house that you used to belong to. You may take with you from this court all that you own but no more. You will forever be banished from the lands of you birth and shunned by all those you hold dear should you choose to return. You are but a captain of a guard that will soon be no more." He announced solemnly. "I hope you are happy.”

 

"It is my choice." Eruanna muttered, digging her nails into her hands to stem the anger and shame she felt. Blood droplets pooled onto the floor and the dragon slunk over, its head butted her hand and it whimpered as great crystals of water filled its eyes. Showing her mercy Eruanna thought it could not hold.  _I cannot go… can I? I cannot leave the people as slaves to him?_ She stretched out her fingers and scratched its horns reassuringly before readying herself for her exit.  _Please forgive me_  she thought, hoping that the dragon would see her thoughts and forgive her for all her actions. Hoping that her people would not always hate her as the creature had done.

 

"My lord…" Interrupted a plump advisor on his left, the man was smothered in silks from head to toe and he sweated profusely at any sign of a fight. This incident was no exception.

 

"What, Mavore?" The king groaned, running his fingers over the slightly greying greasy head.

 

"What are we to do with her marriage to the house of Elras? She cannot marry a noble man for she is no longer nobility." Mavore reminded him, rubbing his fingers together nervously. His piggy eyes looking her up and down hopefully as he licked his lips in anticipation. Eruanna knew what happened to the fallen girls of nobility. They were given to men who were held in high esteem of the houses but had no real blood or connection to the houses. Mavore was such a person.

 

"Tell them that this  _wench_  is still to marry their son… if they refuse you may have her, so long as you can afford the dowry.” The king muttered, slumping in his chair. The fat squashed face turned in a leer to smile gingerly at her and Eruanna force back the vomit that threatened to rise.  _Marry **him**? I cannot… I will not be shackled to any man or woman, I will not marry against my will._

 

“No.” Eruanna stated, rising her eyes to the king in defiance.

 

“No?” The king cocked his head to one side and smiled, “Did you hear that? She said no, as if she has the choice anymore. You will marry for the sake of my honour and you will do as you are told. Or you will not live at all.”

 

“No.” Eruanna repeated, smiling harmlessly up at the man whose face was tinged with green. This was a man who had never had the word ‘no’ used on him before and now this  _woman,_ this captain, who should obey him was telling him no.

 

“Get out!” the king bellowed standing up so fast he sent the throne collapsing backwards and the dragon screeching in surprise and ran to cower behind her, shaking. She retreated hurriedly, not noticing the hurried patter patter of claws until she had reached the market place.

 

“No… You need to stay, you cannot come with me.” Eruanna sighed, turning to face the amber eyes. The scaled head butted her playfully; smoke billowing up out of its nose.  _What would you tell Legolas? That you adopted a dragon… the king’s dragon?_ Yet she considered it for a long while.  _You hate this dragon… it hates you, but we both hate the king… and enemy of my enemy is my ally._  Reluctantly, she allowed the beast to follow, telling it to stick to the trees out of sight.

 

 _You will never go back to your home lands. You will never go back to you homelands. Eruanna you fool, you fool._   Above the soft rustle of wings and scales brushing leaves calmed her and she stopped to think. "What were you thinking? They will not trust you because you have no connection with fewer kings. Go back. Back and beg forgiveness" she told herself, turning around, above the dragon howled in disagreement and she stopped herself.

 

"No, I cannot bow to him; If I look back I am lost." She spat turning round again.

"But what about your life in Termoree?" she asked to herself. "What life. I had no life. I only had war." She answered softly. "Here. I have a future." In the tree above the dragon whined in agreement before darting off into the shadows, leaving her running after him like chasing an impossible dream.

 

* * *

 

Eruanna doubted that they would have waited, she had been longer than intended but to her utter amazement they sat waiting for her, sat in a huddled group as Gimli tried in vain to set the damp wood aflame.  She listened closely to what was being said.

 

"She will have run off back to her uncle, I said as much." Gimli grumbled, brow furrowed in concentration as he tried to get a spark to catch.

 

“And  _I_  said from the start that we should not have let her come." Gandalf added.

"We do not know what her business is," Aragorn argued, and her elf cast Aragorn a grateful look. "If she were to betray us, do you not think we would be dead by now?"

"You may be right Aragorn but... I see very little in her heart that is willing to help." Gandalf countered, glancing hopefully at the wood as a thin wisp of smoke furled from the damp wood before petering out. The dwarf cursed in his own tongue and sat back onto the ground heavily.

 

"She  _wanted_  to help find Merry and Pippin. She stayed with us after the fellowship broke. If those are the actions of a traitor then that makes us all traitors," Legolas interjected.

 

"I am certain she doesn't trust us." Gimli complained.

 

"Why don't you ask her when she arrives?" Legolas snapped, his eyes must have seen some movement in the trees as he was looking directly at her.

 

"I might do, or I might tie her up and leave her here for her people do deal with." Gimli said impatiently as Eruanna stepped out from behind the tree the dragon had managed to wrap itself around.

 

"You could just forgive me for my faults and move on." She told him, “Like you have done for all the others.” With a snap of her fingers flames jumped up around the wood, crackling. The dwarf flared furiously at her, finally tipped over the edge.

 

“ _Forgive?_  I do not yet trust you. How could I  _forgive_ you?"  Gimli answered stubbornly, grounding himself for a knife to the beard. From behind her shoulder a ball of flame sailed through the air and lit up the dwarf’s beard. Eruanna stifled a giggle and gave the dragon a warning glance as Gimli patted his scorched beard down before glowering at her sulkily.

 

"Perhaps you should start by telling us where you have been" Gandalf concluded, shaking his head in disbelief as she flicked her wrist and splashed the dwarf with water. With some difficulty, she explained what her business was and why she had done it.

 

"Well" Gimli said as she finished, "I never expected that."

 

"Now that the small matter of issues in our group has been somewhat resolved we have a more pressing matter. We are to go to Théoden with all speed" Gandalf told them, "Quickly now, it is no short distance."

 

* * *

 

Soon they were upon their horses, Eruanna smiled gratefully at Gandalf, for he had taken the dwarf on his horse, she sat in front of Legolas, wrapped securely into his chest. It was not that she did not like Aragorn; in fact he had grown on her since she had heard him arguing her case but she knew how uneasy she made him feel and those feelings were often mutual.

The elf however seemed delighted with the outcome of Aragorn's refusal to allow her back onto his horse. He took every opportunity to sneak a kiss on her neck, she was quite aware that the others could be watching, but for some reason she did not care anymore.


	20. Blood Lust and Love Should Not Mix (Chapter 18:Part 2)

 

 

 

After they had ridden well into the night Gandalf called the company to a halt. Legolas climbed nimbly of the horse and helped her unmount. Her descent was less than graceful, she felt saddle sore, and her legs ached from being stuck in a hard leather saddle for hours. As dusk set in, her body became more restless than saddle shores should prompt and she paced up and down, despite Legolas's best attempts to soothe her.

The moon was behind the clouds - but it was full, the stars were growing dimmer every day as the evil began to grow in strength. Eruanna glanced round; no one was watching and she slipped down into the undergrowth, out of sight, the Naira was not sure if she trust them so much as to let them know every secret she kept.

A full moon, every hundred years, revealed her race in their true form. Each form was different and many would parade around this night, displaying what  _they_ believed to be true beauty and fertility, as in this form her people were at their most plentiful. She never had enjoyed such things,however, her true form was her secret and she preferred to spend such nights alone while most used it as an excuse to share a bed with another, invited or not.

Somewhere in the long grass her new companion rustled his wings.  _I should really give him a name._   _Naming something makes it yours… you will become attached._ Now, under the sky as she waited, Eruanna gave in to temptation and named the dragon Branimir.

Leaning against a rock she waited, looking up at the black sky, dotted with stars like firefly's, tiny pinpricks of light. The moon began to slide from behind the cloud, the tingling ran over her body. Eruanna began to take deep breaths as agony seared through her back, tearing into her shoulder blades as bone and feather forced its way through the skin. She raised her palm to her face; it glowed golden in the moonlight with the gentle regenerative glow that was her essence. Her hair grew down to her waist, darkening into a mixture of ebony and pure gold. Wrapping the now fully formed wings them round her body, she gulped in the air, the soft grey feathers hiding her from view as the final change occurred. Her gums burned as they pushed the sharp points of her teeth out, blood pooling in her mouth as she cut her lip on the points of them.

Eruanna crawled to a pool of water and gazed at the imp like reflection, her guts twisted in revulsion at the sight and she retched up a mixture of blood and lembas. Wiping her mouth she scooped up handfuls of water and scrubbed the blood out of her tunic before taking a long drink. Branimir scuttled over and supported her as she struggled to stand. The gossamer wings pressed hard in the small of her back as her feet began to give in. Slowly her strength returned and she wandered into the bushes to find food. The hunting dragon followed, pouncing on the trailing wings and biting every now and then to remind her to be alert. This was not something she wanted to explain to the others.

"Eruanna!" behind her a voice was calling.  _Legolas. Bloody elvish senses._ Beside her a rustle of scales as the dragon scaled the tree and hid. Eruanna looked for somewhere she would not be noticed. Backtracking hurriedly she found a small shrub and ducked down behind it, hoping it would be enough.

_Should I show him?_  Eruanna questioned herself.  _Is it worth it?_  She saw him frown and scan the area before going to the water's edge.

"Eruanna" he hissed, he was coming closer, his bow loosely fitted with an arrow. She began to back away further but she was still unused to the extra weight of her wings and she tripped sending the bushes into a frantic dance. His head snapped up and he began to edge closer. Very gently he pushed aside the leaves with the arrow before his eyes widened and Eruanna hid beneath the feathers hoping that he hadn't seen her.

Behind the shield she could hear the soft crunch of leaves. Peering over the tip of one wing she caught sight of Legolas holding his bow nervously to her. She lowered the feathers slowly and stumbled to her feet, shame and humiliation stinging her heart.  _Now he fears you like all the others._ The elf was watching cautiously, and she raised her hands to try and relieve the tension between them.

"I would prefer if you pointed that somewhere else…" Legolas frowned then looked down at his bow and let it fall from his hands. The elf inched closer and she remained very still, allowing him to adjust to the shock. He ran his fingers over the silken down of the wings and she shivered uncontrollably with lust. He smiled and pulled her into a tender kiss, she wrapped him close in her wings, sheltering him from the stars and moon.

"So, you have wings… That's…"

"Repulsive?" she interrupted, pushing him away and tucking the irritating feathers behind her. Legolas shook his head and pulled her back into his arms, running his fingers over the small bony hooks on the tops of each wing. She let out a soft moan of delight and he stopped, cupping her cheek in one hand.

"I'm not hurting you, am I?"

"No, I'm just a little sensitive there and well.." she blushed letting her words trail off, as he nibbled her earlobe, murmuring soft words shamelessly in her ear. She cursed him under her breath, playful the more frisky side of her love as he whispered intimacy to her and for a moment she forgot herself and her prior engagement to another.

"Legolas… I missed something out earlier when I was explaining where I had been" she said softly, pushing him away firmly with one hand.

"What did you miss out" he asked absentmindedly, tugging on the braids in her hair and pulling her closely into him.

"I am to be married to a prince belonging to another house" she mumbled guiltily, feeling all joy disintegrate around her as Legolas froze. Very carefully the elf unwound himself and held her out at arm's length.

"He can't have you, I won't allow it, you're  _my_ love," Legolas growled decidedly after several seconds, pulling her into a firm cuddle.  _I should argue that this love will end in disaster_  she thought sullenly, burying her head in his shoulder.

"That does not make me your wife" she reminded him, stepping back into the moonlight as pain flared through her body again. White light danced across her skin and her appearance changed back to her normal plain self. Her lover watched nervously from the side, his face awash with uncertainty. Once back on her feet Eruanna slipped back into the familiar embrace, giving the almost forgotten dragon a warning glance as it dangled his tale precariously close to Legolas's shoulder. Her stomach groaned hungrily at her and Legolas jumped in surprise. Heat flushed through her cheeks and she pulled up her hood to shield her face.

"Shall I bring you some food?" Legolas murmured playfully, Eruanna shook her head and pulled out a knife. Cutting open her palm before sucking at the blood that leaked out of the scratch. The elf frowned in confusion and revolution and she looked up at him between gulps as the warm fluid soothed the burn that came every time she forgot to hunt. Legolas waited patiently for an explanation as she tied herself up, binding her hand on a muddy rag as she chose her words.

"I forgot to go fetch food… You all live off specific things as do I, only I need blood too or the pain of living without it becomes unbearable and I get blooddrunk, if you recall the woodmans family, I stopped hunting then lost control. I didn't want to snack on you, so my own blood will do until I can catch a rabbit." Legolas cocked his head on one side thoughtfully before pulling his hair to out of the way.

"We don't have time to fetch woodland animals… and I don't want you harming woodsmen" Legolas murmured, pulling her back into his arms. A soft rush of excitement ran through her followed by dread.  _You aren't strong enough, you could hurt him._ Eruanna decided that the effects of their heated moment was clouding his judgment.  _perhaps he thinks this will stop the wedding to the other prince._ Eruanna shook her head, kissing his neck softly before retreating to a safer distance. "Meleth… I don't mind." Legolas sighed, pulling her closer.  _It's definitely jealousy._

"No, this is silly Legolas… why would you even consider it?" Eruanna scolded, already he was putting ludicrous ideas in her head and she was actually considering it.

"It's not silly… You're hurting." Legolas argued, bending to kiss her lightly on the lips. Eruanna shoved him backwards, cursing herself for mentioning pain to her overprotective lover. "Very well, I was just concerned for our companions longevity with you not being able to catch food. I don't think you have noticed how little there actually is."

"We can't, someone might see." Legolas sighed and began rubbing his temples in frustration.

The burn was already returning and Eruanna sunk down in the grass, huddling up in a ball, ignoring her lover's sly attempts to convince her. After a while the elf sat behind her and began plaiting her hair. The metallic taste was back as her fangs poked through her gums hopefully and she leant back on his shoulder. Wriggling round to face him she caught the wicked sparkle in his eyes that came when he was planning something.

Very calmly the elf lent forwards and kissed her, pushing her onto her back in the thick grass. Eruanna giggled as he tickled her ribs and bit her fingers gently when she tried to push him away. Relaxing into the soft earth she closed her eyes, enjoying the elfs soft lips brushing her neck and sweet murmurs in a dialogue she knew very little of.

* * *

Legolas's soft elvish tongue sent waves of desire rushing through her. Eruanna stopped fighting him receiving fierce kisses that left her panting and mewling with lust. Legolas pulled her up into his lap, nipping her ears gently with his teeth. Enough to tease the sharp incisors out and she whimpered as the fire ignited in her gullet. Legolas nuzzled her neck encouragingly, kissing her tenderly, tugging on her lips a little with his teeth. Blood. His lip was bleeding. The elf smiled at her and guided her frenzied kisses down to the soft sensitive spot on his neck. Sensual touches ran down her back and she kissed his shoulder, trying to resist the call of blood. In return she received a long deep kiss upon her lips and a small reassuring smile.

The pain at the back of her throat was intense and she couldn't ignore it much longer.  _Don't do it._ For once she gave into instinct, forgetting all logic. Beneath her she felt him tense and tremble with pain as she sunk her teeth into his soft neck. She paused and watched his fist screw up the grass as his groan of agony turned to delight. She pulled away from the stem of blood and Legolas kissed her passionately. The kiss tasted metallic but she revelled in it. Returning to the wound she drank blissfully, his soft moans of pleasure persuading her to continue. After what seemed like a short time she stopped, Legolas whimpered in disappointment and Eruanna smiled, kissing him lightly before running her fingers over the messy wound; forgetting momentarily he was still bleeding she brushed her hand over his neck then froze in horror and fascination.

"It's ok, go on." He kissed her gently then allowed her to clean up the mess she had made of his neck before shoving her off his knee to stretch his legs; breathing rapidly as the pleasure faded away. Eruanna buried her head in her arms feeling sick and ashamed. Legolas murmured in contentment to her, she picked out words like 'beautiful' and 'perfect' but they no longer made her feel special. The taste of his blood was going sour in her mouth. Or what purpose had she done what she had? What need had there been?  _i'm a monster. What have I done?_

* * *

Time for a moment was dead. Eruanna curled up to legolas, ignoring the revolution she felt for herself; the tranquility that they had been enjoying as short lived. A bolt of light knocked Legolas to one side and Eruanna leaped to her feet sword drawn, snarling, her once green eyes turning back to the apocalyptic red that so many would have cowered at. The moon vanished as the clouds smothered it. But despite all the animalistic threats she gave as she revived her partner, the attacker did not back away. The attacker was a friend.

Gandalf swung his staff at her knocking her backwards. Eruanna sank her teeth into his hand, forcing him to drop the blade he had before she brought his staff down on her head, raising it to strike again as she lurched violently round, visions of wild things dancing around in the surrounding air. Having recovered, Legolas was on his feet, arrow already notched into his bow. Seconds later the arrow whailed through the air and sank into Gandalf's stick before pushing her behind him notching yet a arrow to his bow, holding it up the the wizard's chest.

"Hit her again and I swear you will regret it." Legolas threatened, Eruanna raised her eyes to the wizard's; clutching her bleeding skull, hoping with some surprise that he would not be foolish enough to ignore the sharp object close to his heart. _It would be a dreadful shame to die twice and I don't think Legolas will be negotiating._ Gandalf frowned, poisonous fury bubbling under his skin as he looked from her lover then back to her. The fact that Legolas was protecting her from a friend was new and she beamed a self satisfied smile up at the horrified enchanter. Legolas still trembled under the effects of her venom but Eruanna decided it was more fury that was causing the shakes, Gandalf had after all shot him.

How much gandalf had actually seen was still in question but Eruanna knew he had seen enough. Staggering to her feet she calmly lowered the weapon pointed at the wizard; not wanting any bloodshed if if could be avoided. After all, it was a famous balrog slayer who had told her there was a time and place for everything and this was not the time for a battle.

"I'm sure we can all be adults about this." She began, fumbling for a dagger in case she should need to defend herself.

"Hold your tongue,  _leech."_ Gandalf replied, his sword instantly at her throat. Eruanna felt Legolas quivering with fury, the insult cutting him far deeper than it harmed her.

"This is probably not what you think it is. It wasn't my idea…"

"No, It was mine." Legolas interrupted, wrapping an arm about her waist, "I feared for the safety of any wandering woodmen and I could not bear to watch her suffer." Gandalf raised a bushy eyebrow and picked up his staff before swiping at Legolas. The blow never struck, A surge of rage rushed through Eruanna and a pulse of violent magic knocked the staff out from the sorcerer's hand.

Gandalf fell backwards and crashed to the earth with a soft thump. Eruanna swayed violently before he knees gave in, sinking into Legolas's arms. Branimir wings rustled in the tree before the dragon scuttled down, its skin changing to match its surroundings. In the commotion the creature staff stitched the staff and dragged it away so Gandalf could do no more damage.

The world was spinning madly and Eruanna shivered uncontrollably as the effects of the magic grained her of energy. Exhaustion was already claiming her and sleep called out to her but she would not give in, she could not.

"Eruanna, my flame... " through the temporary grey vision there was light, Eruanna clung to it, to him as the world became undone around her.

"Are you really so blind in love that you cannot see past her charms. It is all an act, come Greenleaf, surely you are no fool." Gandalf's words were soft and friendly but Legolas was having none of it. Legolas's grip on her tightened, and her vision returned. The spellcaster was searching in vain for his stick and as Legolas helped her back on her feet she could hear his loud curses and muttering. The swearing suddenly became a yowl of

pain and Gandalf returned rubbing his head, staff in hand.

"Dist Branimir god of falling staffs punish you for your insult against me?" Eruanna giggled, nestling into Legolas's shoulder as the wizard's face turned fuchsia with something close to exploding.

Legolas snatched hold of Gandalfs cloak before he could inflict more damage. Both spellbinder and elf began a long hushed quarrel in elvish before Gandalf reluctantly gave in.

"You understand master elf that you are no more than a walking larder to her. Once she find someone else you will no longer matter," Gandalf asked, Legolas scowled and pulled her back into his chest, cold eyes leering at the the older man from over the top of her head, "Love is a concept she cannot understand, this infatuation with will die down and you shall have your heart broken. I am only trying to protect you. Your kin are not known for their ability to recover from the loss of their loved ones."

Irritation stirred. Eruanna scrunched up Legolas's tunic in concentration so as to avoid a comment that would set the magician off again, alas it was no use.

"Perhaps Gandalf, you should stop meddling in affairs that are not yours." Eruanna muttered, Legolas's jaw tensed in a move to restrain his own comments and she guessed she had struck the mage in a nerve, turning to face him, she knew the fight had only just begun. "After all," she continued, "That is what you do best. You mess with things that you should not and drag your friends down with you. Then of course you leave them to deal with what chaos you have left behind. I do not intend on harming Legolas, for all your claims of loving your friends you do not treat them kindly. I would not abandon my lover when he needed me most, nor even those I dislike, it is called loyalty and you know little of it. "

For once the wizard had naught to say. He stood there open mouthed, gaping like some stranded fish caught out by the retreating tide. Legolas kissed her cheek delicately, and Eruanna lent up and kissed her lover softly, grinning malevolently at the silent magician as Legolas pulled away for an instant to catch his breath. Legolas paid no heed to this small smug gesture of triumph; if he noticed it he did not say instead he pulled her closer, twining his fingers into her hair.

Gandalf coughed impatiently, folding his arms as he waited for this nightmare to end.

"This is all very well but we have evil to rid the land of…" he complained. Eruanna squirmed away from the elf and grinned at the conjuror.

"Well, I hear mortals say that love conquers all…"

"I do not think this is what they had in mind meleth…" Legolas commented, kissing her knuckles. Gandalf rolled his eyes, in an  _I'm sure they didn't think love included Naira_ sort of way before Eruanna kicked him hard in the shin.

"What was that for?!" Legolas cried, wringing his hands as the sharman hurled a fireball at her, she caught it in one hand and swallowed it mischievously, belching out smoke and sniggering with relish.

"Well, he might tell the others about us and I can't have them knowing I have weaknesses. That and It could get messy explaining to gimli that I drank some of your.. well you know." Legolas sighed, rubbing the neat teeth marks on his neck before pulling up his collar to hide them.

"I will not allow you to harm innocent people when the need for blood becomes too great because of this momentary weakness. You will remain as you have been doing in the past and continue to live off animals from now on. If I see anything like that again, I will be forced inform the others and let them decide what to do with you Eruanna," Gandalf assured her. Eruanna spun round, the wind whipped around her as her tolerance began to end. The ground shivered ever so slightly. it was power like none she had ever possessed before.  _A diet of rabbits will do that to you_ she thought before hurling a small amount of energy to the wizard, disarming him.

"Bite me bitch," she snapped, thumping him hard in the stomach before stalking off into the undergrowth with the soft crackle of dry leaves and swooshing of scales over wood following behind.

 


	21. Graveyards, Kings and Siblings

When finally sleep released her, Eruanna stirred from it feeling strangely jubilant, dawn had long gone and the sun fast approached mid-morning. Legolas was absent from her side, but she had expected as much, he was an elf after all and most elves were morning folk. Climbing up the slope she heard Aragorn telling Gimli to hurry up. Legolas was tacking up the horses and Gandalf as always, watched smoking on his pie, the soft curling fumes licking the morning Air. She breathed them in, the scent soothing her joints and softening her thoughts. _How long since I smoked?_ It had been a habit she had tried to get out of but had only replaced it with drink. Setting aside her desire for the tobacco she began to help pack up what supplies they had.

"Were you planning on forgetting me" Eruanna suggested when she spotted the slight disappointment on Gandalfs withered face. Aragorn looked over as he tended the fire.

"No, but you where resting and we thought it was a shame to wake you so early, besides, Legolas wouldn’t allow it if we tried." The man informed her, kicking Gimli out of his bed roll. Eruanna nodded suspecting that it was more than just a gesture of kindness that they had left her to rest, creeping over to Legolas who was struggling to sooth Aragorn's mount. Out of the corner of her eye she caught the flash of brown wings and the horse reared in terror. Hurridly she retreated till the elf got the situation under control before sneaking over to him to place a kiss on his cheek.

"Morning" she sung, throwing him the pile of blankets for him to strap onto the horses backs.

"You're in a good mood" he observed, scowling momentarily as she draped more and more blankets over him then grinning as he threw them back in her face.

"The sun is shining and the birds are  _not_  singing. This may be a very good day" she told him, throwing a saddle over her own horse. Legolas shook his head and showed her how to tack the creature up. _Well some of us ride dragons and have…had… servants for all of this_ she thought, nodding with mock interest. After he began complaining that she was too cheerful and unlike herself she felt her darker mood returning.

"What? Am I not allowed to be cheerful sometimes" she demanded folding her arms and pouting at him.

"You’re ridiculous" he laughed, handing her the horse’s reigns.

"Why?" she asked curiously.

"One moment we are all doomed the next it is a wonderful day. Where have you taken my miserable Eruanna who I know so well, you must be an imposter for sure" the elf chuckled.

"It is a good day to die upon" Eruanna said shamelessly, her eyes following the little dragon’s progress as it crawled its way to Gimli’s plate and shamelessly removed all the meat before slinking back into the shadows unnoticed.

"There, I see you have returned her" the elf replied cheerily.

"I am mealy glad that I am now my own master and no longer as you put it earlier this year: a piece in my king's army" she informed him.

"Ah, so you are celebrating your freedom" Legolas replied playfully. She grinned at him, and let him lift her onto his horse before climbing up himself.

* * *

 

The day dragged on they rode for miles with not a sight of life save an occasional timid rabbit. They stopped late afternoon to let the horses rest and to stretch their legs before setting off once more. In the early evening just as dusk had settled down upon the sky, Gandalf slowed Shadowfax to a walk then halted altogether. In the distance, rising out of the earth like a beacon stood Edoras, in the grey twilight it seemed to glimmer like many jewels in candle light. Under the darkening sky it seemed so distant and isolated from the rest of the world. Perched high on a remote hill; a nest for all to see.

"There is Edoras, and Théoden whose mind had been overthrown. Be careful what you say. Do not look for welcome here," Gandalf educated them before urging the white stallion onwards.

"Time to face another king" Eruanna muttered, shuddering involuntarily at the thought of the nephew to this man Gandalf was so eager to meet.

"No harm will come to you" Legolas promised, squeezing her thigh and kissing her neck. Eruanna pushed him off, catching the slight amused smile of the dwarf.

"It's not me I'm worried about" she replied, leaving the rest for his imagination. _I worry_ _that I will harm…_ Who would she harm? Surely there was no one foolish enough to taunt her? Warily, Eruanna spurred the horse on, letting the dim lights of the city draw nearer as judgment approached.

Edoras had never called to her kind to visit so they never had, but it looked from a distance welcoming. As they drew nearer however, her stomach turned to lead; it was deathly silent save the sound off the wind in the flags and the crows and ravens calling overhead. Eruanna gritted her teeth, trying to ignore the way they sat and glared at her. She felt an arm circle her waist and she tried to relax before flinching as one of the birds dived overhead.

"Bloody birds" she cursed under her breath. Legolas snorted delicately and covered her eyes playfully with one hand.  Gandalf gave them a warning look that told them to behave and she scowled sourly.

Dismounting, she took in the scenery at glance; it was mostly thatched roofed houses, surrounding a grander building, which was made of even more wood and thatch and despite the carvings needed some attention and maintenance. S _o that is the famous golden hall of medowsil_ , _it is an odd place to keep a king. So plain in its appearance_. Her companions also dismounted and she silently followed, watching the dark shapes on the battlements with unease, the soldiers seemed enchanted like they had no mind belonging to themselves, they followed in ones and twos; vultures on the hunt of a meal and Eruanna reached for a small dagger in her shoe before hurrying to catch up.

* * *

 

 At the top of the steps of the great hall, a man stood waiting, Eruanna raised her eyebrow, why where all the men of Rohan tall and blonde or something of that variation? _So… my friend's stories are not always wrong_. They passed houses of whose inhabitants where sullen and grim faced mortals with no souls to their name, faceless, unmemorable, cold and distant. It was like stepping into a world that was replaying the same moment in time on a loop, watching the same second over and over. Nothing changed, the people stayed at their doors, shutters banging in the breeze and the _hush hush_ of sweeping was the only sounds.

"You'll find more cheer in a graveyard" Gimli commented, keeping close to the wizards heel as he past what looked to be a market stall filled with rotting cuts of meat.

At the top of the steps several guards joined a man in waiting for them. When they arrived at the doors to the hall, she was surprised not to be met with the same cold indifference they had received from the guard who had opened the gate. There was instead an air of formal respect for the wizard in the man who they were now faced with.  His manner was almost polite. Eruanna suspected he was one of the only knits she would find still in this state as Eomer had claimed he had taken the rest.

“I cannot permit you before the king so armed, by order of, Grima wormtongue" the man stated, bowing a little before signalling the other men to bar the doors.

"If he thinks I will willingly hand over my weapons to him, he is dreaming" Eruanna whispered into Legolas's ear.

The elf smirked, "then I suggest you hide them, my lady, they should not suspect you of having many" he whispered back. Eruanna sighed, she did not wish to be left behind, nor did she wish to give up her weapons to a stranger, it was bad enough giving them to a friend. Shifting uneasily as Gandalf argued with the soldier she ran her fingers over the cold steel dagger she still held. _You could remove them from the doors by force._ An elbow thumped her ribs hard and Aragorn shook his head, his hand pulling the knife from the top of her arm brace.

Gritting her teeth she watched the others give their weapons up; _it can't be that hard_ , slowly she removing her sword from her waist, then her quiver and bow that sat gathering dust and reluctantly handed them to the guards who laid them carefully to one side. In the rafters, Eruanna caught sight of the now familiar snaking tale of Branimir and grinned. Closing her eyes she focused on a silent command to the dragon: “Guard my weapons. Kill those men if they lay their fingers on them.” The tail flicked violently and knocked one guard’s helmet off before it disappeared. She was surprised no one had seen the creature but in her lands stealth was taught to the pets as well as owners and the dragon was far older than she would have imagined. Eruanna handed the men all her visible weapons and they accepted that she had no more with little convincing needed; they stepped aside with very little hesitation allowing the company to pass.

The great hall almost lived up to its name, it was beautifully built. The pillars had eccentric designs carved into them, as did most of the walls. In the center there was a small fire burning down to nothing. At the far end sat a withered man on a throne, his life all but scorched out.

" _How quickly men fade_ " she thought, smiling for once at the gift of immortality. It was then she noticed the eyes of men staring at them with curiosity and at her with pure unadulterated hatred; she shifted closer to Gimli who was nearest to where she now stood, her fingers fumbling in her leather brace on her wrist for a small knife snuggled there.

"Late is the hour at which this wizard chooses to appear, dark spell I name him, ill news and ill guest" hissed a voice, Eruanna's eyes set with fire, he was still in alive, why was he still in alive? He should not be. His punishment had been execution by order of her king for the crime of treason, yet here he stood among kings and like a sovereign he himself acted. Wrath hissed up her body, clinging to her. A hate that she never knew she had begun to boil and fill her with contempt. _Control yourself._

 

Eruanna began to feel unaware of her surroundings, she had to fight the urges to seize Grima by the throat and tear out his soul. She fought with them as Gandalf argued with the king. She heard the cawing of the rooks and the rage inside built up future threatening to brim and wash over everything in the room.

In the back of her mind, an awareness of a shadow creeping up behind her. Spinning to face him, she saw horror on his face then agony as her hand clamped round his throat and squeeze firmly. His spine crunched under her grip and she let him fall to the floor. The raucous was over already, the other men who had attacked her company as Gandalf had battled Saruman's control over Théoden lay out on the floor, the evil fading from within them but the grim face of the young man stared up at her, the unseeing eyes gazing at her with disgust.

"Just like my father did" she found herself mutter before clamping her bloodied hand over her mouth, the first drops of its warmth stinging her lips. The others where following the king out but she did not wish to see Grima's fate, he had an uncanny way of escaping it; she stood, staring in mixed feeling of shock awe at the neck of the man she had killed. The bone poked out through the flesh leaving a halo of red swimming round his head his head, bruises covered the pale skin.

Eruanna turned away, feeling sick, she knew she was capable of killing a man with her bare hands but this was beyond what she had thought she would ever do. She had promised never to do it again, not after the little girl… another part of her still reveled in the sight, delighted in his suffering but that part was somewhere she never wanted to go. _It would make me like all other Naira_. _It would make you no different to Eris._

Wiping the blood on the tunic of the corpse she went to see if the worm had escaped justice, hoping it would distract her mind. Stepping out from the dark halls the moon caressed her face, its sweet healing powers soothing the madness churning within. Eruanna turned her attention to Grima; he was crawling down the steps begging for forgiveness. “ _I would never beg in such a craven manner, it is quite unflattering of anyone”_ Eruanna thought, her eyes checking the rafters of the hall again. The dragon was still there; a small, almost unnoticeable plooms of smoke sung through the air. Grima’s howls brought her attention back to the present.

"I have only wished to serve you" he grovelled, tugging at the kings grubby furs.

"I'm _sure_ you do" Eruanna muttered sarcastically, wiping blood on her sleeve before inspecting her nails in disinterest. Théoden raised his blade to smite the dirt he had once believed to be a friend but the blow never fell. The king had been stopped by the ranger.

"No my lord, enough blood has been split on his account" Aragorn argued, holding the king back.

"Oh… This is good. This is too good, anyone else speaks now and I will kill them personally," she warned her comrades delightedly, "I want to know who breaks first.". If she had had her friend she did not doubt she would be betting but to her disappointment no one in Edoras was willing to bet on their king and none of her group on Aragorn. Eventually the stalemate below broke and Théoden backed down.

"Get out of my sight" he spat at Grima who reluctantly staggered to his feet and withdrew, bellowing orders at the gathering townsfolk.

"All hail the king," yelled the townsfolk kneeling before their king. The court followed, leaving those who did not belong to the race of men standing alone. “ _Yes, you do that. All hail the fucking king”_ she mused bitterly remembering a time when she'd have gladly sun her kings praises.

From the gates there rode a darkened horse. Its rider hooded and cloaked in deep purple. It halted at the bottom of the steps with an elegant flourish of mane and tale. Eruanna narrowed her eyes, squinting into the sun as her stomach knotted with unease.

"Who are you? State your business in Rohan" Théoden ordered wearily, raising his sword once again.

"I am here to speak with my sister. My name is Devae" replied the rider lowering his hood and holding up his hands.

"Devae?" Eruanna breathed, why had her brother come so far from the city? Surly he had women to chase and ale to drink? Surely he had been forbidden?

"Eruanna, sister, I need to speak with you urgently," he called up to her sternly, waving a piece of parchment.

"You never said you had a brother" Legolas whispered, Eruanna winked at him gleefully. _There is a lot you don’t know Legolas._

"Twin. Twin brother" she corrected before charging down the steps as her brother beckoned to a nearby servant who came over nervously.

"Take my horse to your stables. I want him well cared for. I will fetch him when my business has finished" he instructed the maid, "Eruanna. Tell you elf friend this is a private conversation." She glanced to see Legolas following at a distance. She shook her head at him and trailed after her brother.

"I have had some troubling news from our uncle" Devae began, running his hand through the rusty blonde hair.

"I will save you your words… It is all true" she interrupted; she was in no mood for this discussion. Her brother studied her, his hair reflecting in the moonlight; his eyes momentarily green as her own in her usually unyielding state. He was everything she was not, handsome, charming and charismatic. Born within moments of one another they could not have been more different and yet they were considered identical in all but gender.

 "Our uncle…"

" _Your_ uncle. He disowned me…" she insisted, folding her arms defensively as her dragon slunk up to her side and blew furious smoke rings towards her brother.

"Our uncle is furious; he is threatening to have you hung for treason. I love you dear sister and we have lost so many of our family already I cannot lose you too" Devae persisted, his blazon ruby gaze rested on Branimir.

"He does know that hanging me won't work" Eruanna snorted, “They already tried it a while back, it seems I’m very hard to kill.”

"Apparently not" he replied curtly. "Sister, I do not know what has swayed you but you had everything and you have thrown it away."

"I didn't have someone who loved me" she snarled, baring her fangs at him. Devae did not flinch.

"I loved you.”

"As a brother" she reminded him, "though our father would have had it to be more than that if I hadn't dealt with it." Her brother shivered in revulsion. Once there had been an agreement that they should marry to keep the bloodline clean of all lesser Naira. Eruanna had dealt with it the way she dealt with any engagement her father had placed her in, only it had cost the lives of hundreds of soldiers and the rebellion had lasted far longer than anyone could have planned.

"How's our sister?"

"You mean the queen?" her brother remarked, "Well I believe she is regretting her marriage which we both told her she would" Devae informed her.

"It was a good match" Eruanna mused.

"In the eyes of the subjects but marrying family members so close in blood?" her brother questioned.

 "It is not uncommon and you know it, there is no law that states it is wrong, just as we are both free to love both genders, family members are free to do the same. I fear that however is where the leniency ends; we are after all forbidden true love and relationships with non-naira."

"What about you, sister? Are you planning on wedding that elf?" her brother pried, "or are you still not the marrying kind?"  Eruanna glowered at him reproachfully and attempted to deny her connection to Legolas.

"I saw the way he looked at you and you at him" he explained. She felt her cheeks glow and saw her brothers hard features break into a smirk. "So, the great Eruanna has a weakness after all and it is in the form of a pointy eared tree lover… will you marry him then?"

"To marry is to sacrifice my freedom, the thing I love most, to chain myself to another and never be allowed to leave, but to marry  _him_ would be to make it almost bearable. He would be mine and mine alone and no one else could take that from me" she sighed.

"Come home sister, we all miss you, your comrades need a captain and your family needs their protector."

"I can't" she whispered, looking down at her feet to avoid the bright red feline eyes.

"You would leave us to the kings' mercy? You were the only thing that tempered his wrath, the only thing he dared not cross and now you have abandoned us, I thought you better than that" her brother snarled, all calm disintegrating around him, "We were orphaned because of him, left to fend for ourselves because of him. We do not have a family because of his war!"

"It was a common occurrence for children to loose family and it still is, most of us suffered similar fates or have you forgotten that Devae?" She said icily. Her brother glowered at her before screaming in anger, smashing his fist through the wall of the house. She recoiled away instinctively, the dragon puffing up defensively, shielding her with one wing. Devae lowered his head, his whole body was trembling with rage. Eruanna willed her eyes to change to red and he looked up at her, his face set in a ugly line. Almost tenderly he brushed a callous thumb over her cheek smiling gently before watching her eyes change back to the unnatural green state they spent most of their time in.

"You've changed sister.”

"You haven't" she muttered. Her brother smiled weakly at her, the scar across his eye for a moment giving him a disheveled, worn out look and Eruanna bit back an apology. "Would you ask if there is room for me tonight? I have had a long journey.”

"No. I will not have you following me around. Go home to your whores, brother, they need you more than I." she sighed, leaving him standing open mouthed in the cold night. It was a relief to leave him behind, she loved him as any sister should but he was a liability and was likely to cause trouble. Each each step her heart felt lighter, ridding her of the guilty burden she had granted herself on her leaving. Across the hall her companions sat discussing the events of the day, Gimli was swigging down the best ale he could find and she followed his example before deciding to intervene in the talks.

* * *

 

"Mind if I join you?"

"Be our guest" Aragorn answered and she slumped down on the bench, exhausted. A serving girl brought over some food, retreating hurriedly when she caught sight of her changing eyes. _Go on…be afraid. I don’t care._

"What did he want to talk with you about" Gandalf inquired. She looked up broth the broth she was been picking at with disdain, and forced back the fatty meat. Taking a long swig of the bitter ale she smiled grimly at the wizard.

"He wanted to remind me of where my loyalties should be" she answered, wrinkling her nose in disgust at the unpleasant tasting food.

"And what did you tell him" Gimli interjected, handing her the jug of wine which she poured gratefully into her pitcher.

"I told him he could stick his words where the sun doesn't shine.”  

"I bet he loved that" Aragorn chuckled. The man seemed only half involved in the conversation. He was scanning the room but Eruanna assumed it was for the new maiden he had met and hoped he had not seen a small scaly dog with wings running rampant in the roofing.

"Oh, he was very amused by it. In fact he was so amused he smashed a hole into the side of someone's house" Eruanna answered cheerily, hoping this would be enough to distract the ranger. "He also wanted a bed for the night but I turned him away" she added.

"You turned your brother away?" Legolas asked, prying the wine from her hands and finishing it, smiling sweetly at her when she realized there was none left in the jug.

"He would have only caused trouble. I would know I had to share a womb with him," she argued.

"What kind of trouble?" Gimli asked curiously.

"Every kind of trouble" she sighed. She let her eyes wander around the room until they rested on a pale girl who held fire in her eyes. "Who's that?"

"Eowyn" Aragorn answered, his interest still elsewhere

"Ah” she mused the name meant nothing to her and she meant nothing to Aragorn. Eruanna ruled out the possibility of a new maiden and assumed her new pet had been spotted. It looked like the future of the company would be interesting with the addition of Branimir. She thought about explaining it but the man looked uncertain so she kept her mouth shut, focusing on the vile food and maps to plan the days to come.


	22. The Gaps In Memory And Time

When her brother had arrived Legolas had assumed, on the basis of what little information Eruanna had given him on her race, she would be stolen away from him. He would not have guessed there to be any relation between the two Naira. Her brother’s clothing was that of rich silks,fit for a king;in stark conrast Eruanna was smothered in armored leather. He had assumed her siblings would have been similar to her in their mannerisms so he had presumed him to be her betrothed come to drag her back to the city. It had been undeniably a relief when heard he was merely her brother.

"Is your heart troubling you again elf" Gimli asked once the others were occupied with other tasks.

"No Gimli. It has been better of late" he answered carelessly, forgetting his lovers wish to have her personal life remain personal.

"Is that because she returns you affections" the dwarf inquired, "or is it merely that no one else has hers." Startled Legolas glanced at the dwarf before turning his gaze back to the two naira down below who were locked in furious argument. The screams of Eruanna where entirely matched by the punches her brother threw however neither met the target intended.

"If I tell you, you must not breathe a word of this to anyone Gimli."

"I will say nothing" the dwarf promised, pressing his fist over his heart in a strange dwarvish salute. Legolas decided he could be trusted and began to explain.

"I did as you suggested" he informed him, the dwarf looked at him with a look that said that this was not enough information. "She returns my feelings."

"So what is worrying you?" asked the dwarf, shaking his head in frustration. Love was supposed to be simple and Legolas understood his exasperation but love did not exist often in a world run my war and tyranny.  Gimli would find it hard to understand the difficulty’s unless he knew everything and Legolas prayed his love would forgive him for sharing so much she wanted to be kept private.

"She is to marry another and I do not know whether that is really her brother, she had made no mention of having one before today.”

"You assumed him the one she is meant to wed?" Gimli said sceptically, his eyes returning to the fighting siblings. Both were wielding knives but neither successfully damaging the other so Legolas was not yet worried. He gave a small nod and turned his gaze back to where Eruanna was standing.

"Perhaps you should ask her to marry you?" he Gimli told him.

"I do not think it wise." The elf muttered darkly, remembering the last conversation he had had with her about finding a suitable husband. Gimli glared at him. “Eruanna sees marriage as a cage that would strip her of all freedom and joy" he answered softly.

"Yet she would be yours and no one could take that away. She may see it differently if it is you she is to marry.”  

"”I will think on it.” Legolas sighed, settling himself down on a step to watch Eruanna hurl her blade at her brother. Devae stepped skilfully out of the way and bowed before the curses poured from his sisters lips once more. They both watched as the pair shrieked insults in their own tongue.

 "What are they saying?" Gimli asked final, grinning as he caught a few words in the common tongue.

"I believe she's calling him a fool and he is calling her twice the fool he is," Legolas answered, “Along with words that are too repulsive to repeat.”

"They are siblings, if there was any doubt then this should be your evidence" his friend decided walking off to find some food, Legolas closed his eyes and lent back on his elbows, shutting out the noise of the market and foul words of his sweetheart. Instead he focused on a warning that he had almost forgotten. A warning he had been given as a child.

 

* * *

 

"Be careful little brother, she is more dangerous than you can possibly imagine" Selwyn warned him. Legolas paid no attention and proceeded to tear round the room at top speed.

"I don't care." He giggled as his older brother scooped him up in his arms. "She likes me. She knows lots of fun games and can turn dandelions into butterflies" the little elfling chirped.

"But when she is all grown up she will not play games and she will have to go to war, she will not turn plants into butterflies but people into ash" the older elf sighed. Legolas looked up at his older brother,

"She doesn't have to go does she? She could stay here and be with us forever? Please say she will please Selwyn" he begged. He saw the sad grey eyes of his brother looking down at him.

"Little leaf, you know she is nothing like us, one day you will see that she was born to destroy and we were born to protect. What would she do if she where to stay here?" Legolas looked down at his feet miserably,

"She's not like the stories. She wouldn't hurt us" he whimpered.

"She wouldn't mean to hurt us but she might little leaf" his brother said soothingly.

"Why does she have to go away and fight, she will come back and I will still be her friend wont I?" he asked his brother.

"All naira have to fight, it's what gives them a purpose to life, without it they are lost, she will grow up and ride off to war, you will not recognise her when she returns" Selwyn explained.

"Selwyn…"

"Yes Legolas?"

"Why doesn't she have a mama like us?"

"Her mother was killed during a war, not very long ago" Selwyn explained patently.

"If our mama died would ada be nasty to us?" Legolas asked thoughtfully.

"No, little leaf, what makes you say such awful things?" Selwyn scolded.

"Eruanna said that after her mama went away her ada became very angry and often breaks things when someone mentions her. She said he calls her and her siblings names and can't bear to look at them"

"He is just upset little leaf and she is too, soon they will move on and get a new mama when he remarries" Selwyn explained. Legolas beamed up at his brother. His clever grown up brother who understood everything, when he had reached his fiftieth year, he discovered exactly what his father would do if his mother died and even his clever grown up brother who understood everything was not there to comfort his little brother because it was his father who needed it the most. 

* * *

 

"But he understands nothing" Legolas told himself. He did not understand that it had been her who had been there when his mother had been killed. Her who had held his hand through the long nights. Her who had curled up beside him so he did not feel so alone, who had made him laugh when he wanted to weep with her tuneless songs that had been so badly sung that even the worst bards would have scorned it. All of which she had done with no request for gratitude. He watched her now sitting on the bench. She had seen her family torn apart and had survived so many battles and never once demanded of anyone for their loyalty or faith in her. She smiled up to him from under the mop of hair and winked her knowing wink that told him: “Don't worry about me. I've had worse.” He had to agree with Gimli. No one in middle earth was as headstrong as her and someday it would get the better of her.

 

* * *

 

While it was unnerving to have her brother lurking in the shadows, it was a great delight to be allowed free reign to explore the city. Branimir wings flashed in the sunlight and Eruanna smiled to herself and she watched the beast terrorise the sheep and horses lest out in the midday sun. Few people paid any heed to her and the dragon went unnoticed, hidden under a cloaking spell of her own design. Legolas had been behaving strangely all day and the dwarf’s company had become tiresome so the next best thing had been to hike to the highest point and send the dragon to fetch food while she warmed herself.

Wriggling up a tree she hid in the branches watching closely as her pet set a straw barn alight. She clicked her fingers and the flames died back but she knew she would be blamed for it later.  From the hall to figures came, deep in conversation. Aragorns dark hair and clothing were easily recognisable in the contrast to Gandalf.  Deciding that it was of little interest and growing ever wearier of her surroundings her eyes went back to searching for her dragon who had all but vanished. There was a sharp yell as Gandalf tripped and fell down the flight of steps, Aragorn hurrying after to help the old man up.

Branimir came trotting back, grinning in feline glee as he held a tattered map in his jaws. Scuttling up the tree the dragon rested his head in her lap and she scratched the place behind his horns that sent him to sleep. Sighing blissfully, the dragon poured out smoke and ash from the sharply gummed mouth as he pulled away his lips in a wide smile. His tail coiled around her leg and the tree branch deciding for the both of them it was where they would stay for the time being.

The warm quiet lulled her into a false security and she settled herelf for a nap. Moments later the tree rustled and a hand grabbed her wrist. Eruanna opened her eyes ready to fight but was met with the still very real eyes of her brother.

“Devae…what are you doing?”

“What I should have done years ago.” His eyes flashed golden as he used his magic and pain exploded though her skull. Branimir howled in alarm and she found her body slipping sideways onto the floor. The world slipped away and with a force of the elements a new memory was forced back into her skull.

* * *

 

In the ruins of dale the battle rung out. The letter she should have received a day earlier had only just reached her and she searched desperately for any sign of Thranduil and his army. Lord Elrond’s commands were clear, bring an army and help defend Erebor but his timing had been too late for them to arrive before the battle. After locating the departing king and deciding that it was to be handled with tact, Eruanna shifted her ears and eyes to a more elven complexion before changing her garb to that of the woodland guard’s uniform with a flourish of her magic. Perhaps she could convince the king to stay?

She heard below a small amount of commotion. Talk of love mixed with understanding and she slid off the rooftops into the shade. Thranduil stood arguing with his captain over something serious and she decided to make her appearance before Legolas did. It would be far easier to explain herself if he found her. At first no one noticed she had joined the group until the kings eyes turned to face his son who stood between Thranduil’s sword and his guard. Legolas had stopped mid sentence ad was staring at her open mouthed for a spilt second, she thought she had forgotten the past months of secret meetings and other things besides, that was until the recent summons to war...

“Legolas… I see you found someone else.” Eruanna remarked, slipping out from the shadows. She must have been a sight. Tattered clothing, blood-stained sword, cuts and bruises across her face but Legolas’s eyes knew her. His face drained of colour and his bow fell from his hand in shock. Eruanna raised an eyebrow and attempted to wipe some of the grime off her face with her sleeve.

“Eruanna?” Legolas breathed, his eyes glimmered with tears, and “It cannot be you? I thought you dead.”

“No… just tortured to the brink of death, massive exaggeration on my brothers part but being dead meant no one would look for me so dead is how I am trying to stay. Treason after all is punishable by much worse than a clean execution. Now, should I be offended that you have gotten over my death so quickly and found yourself another girl or…” Her words were cut off by his kiss; she wrapped her arms around his neck ignoring the other elves momentarily. Legolas was hers and always had been; no one else would steal him from her.

“My love… you came back” the elf whispered softly against her lips as his fingers traced her jawline. The moment of bliss was short lived, in her passion she had forgotten to uphold her disguise and it was failing fast.

“Eruanna… I think your Narian side is showing” Legolas sighed, kissing her lightly on her cheek as she desperately tried to stop her changing form. It was too late. Thranduil it seemed had also noticed and despite him and several others standing gawking while this had been playing out; his reactions were not so slow to catch on. A cold blade was at her throat, the stink of orc blood filling her nose, arrows fitted to every bow elves with eyes of fury threatening her.

Legolas pushed her behind him, knocking Thranduil's sword from his hand, standing his ground. She caught sight of the young elf Legolas had been claiming to love who had a mixture of betrayal and confusion about her; her bow was broken so she could not harm her. It was her lover’s father she should be worried about. For a king who was known for his unbreakable demeanor that showed no hint of emotion, he was showing plenty of anger. His son remained calm, saying nothing as the king’s anger slowly burned into hot simmering coals.

“Release him whore from whatever spell he is under and I will spare your life but perhaps not your freedom.”

“I will not” Eruanna snapped, snatching her sword from her belt, the insult alone should have condemned the king, “You can tell him what you have told your captain but you have lied to her and you would be lying to your son.”

The king was silent in vengeful anger, his sword gripped tightly in one hand. Above she felt the eyes of her army waiting on the rooftops and knew she must leave.

“Legolas. You will come with us.” Thranduil commanded, the steel eyes bearing down on her. _He is no longer a child…_

“Come Legolas… I believe you were headed to Ravenhill?” Legolas was torn, he looked to his father in silent plea but Thranduil turned his back, Eruanna reached out her hand to her sweetheart, smiling gently. “Remember the first time I showed you the world beyond your borders. There is more to this life than your king’s orders you let me lead… come take my hand again, be free again.”

Still he would not come, he looked to the young elleth who nodded to him, his sister in all but name banished by her king. She wanted him to follow, perhaps he would but for a moment more he stayed.

“Come Legolas, come with us to Ravenhill” Tauriel continued, Legolas’s hand slipped into hers. For once he had chosen freedom rather than the oppressive halls he lived in. Eruanna turned to Thranduil, shaking her head in disbelief as he threatened to banish his son.

“If you banish him, you may no longer be his king, but you will always be his father. Are you willing to sacrifice ever seeing your son again my lord Thranduil? Forgive me for this; I will not watch you break him anymore.”

Once the battle was over her brother had come to her side, Legolas had gone with no explanation or warning. Eruanna knelt in the ice weeping. The question he had asked as they had made their way to the towering spires still hanging in the air, the elf had always been one for picking his moments. _Will you marry me?_ Eruanna cursed herself for telling him she needed time, for telling him to wait for the end of the battle, she knew her answer like she had answered it a hundred times before and would answer it a hundred times more. _Yes._

* * *

 

On opening her eyes, she found herself staring into thickly lashed bronze irises, front paws and claws digging into her breast. Devae sat in the corner of the room reading and there was someone else just out of eyesight, pouring liquid into a basin. She sniffed hard, trying to recognize the sent. Worn leather and mud. Human born with the faintest glimmer of elvish in him. _Aragorn?_  Shoving the dragon off she sat up. Branimir huffed irritably and scuttled under the bed.

The man came back to the bed and helped her to sit up. At first she wanted to fight it, wanted her brother to do something to stop the shame she felt as a weaker person helped her with a menial thing.

Aragorn spoke softly, with words she were surprised to hear where that of her own kind. Despite the bad pronunciation, faltering and the combination of the common tongue he spoke it well. Her throbbing head lessened as she drank the water he offered her.

“I had the strangest dream…” Eruanna mumbled, her hand reaching for the familiar spines of her scaly friend. The dragon crowed delightedly, blowing rings up into Aragorn's face. Aragorn glowered distrustfully at him then her. “He followed me from my city; I did not wish to turn him away. I think Gimli might try and harm him; our other companions well, I do not think they will take it well, I thought you might have wanted to harm him too.”

“Your brother stopped me from harming the beast though I would have liked to, I hear you and he are friends.”

“More of an ally but he is growing on me. Where I come from, we use dragons for most tasks; we ride them, use them to carry and move things and send messages as well as defend the city. In return we grant protection from the changing world and gold beyond their wildest imaginings...” Eruanna began, smiling at the few memories she had of the wind in her hair as she rode with her mother upon the back of a great red dragon. Aragorn raised an eyebrow before gingerly reaching over to scratch Branimir behind a horn, the little dragon growled then stretched out his neck allowing the man to pet him.

After a while she felt her normal self and Aragorn deemed it safe to leave the small chamber he had placed her. It was dusk when she stepped out of the room, Aragorn had agreed to keep the dragon a secret for as long as he could and she was happy that he was willing. Her brother had said not a word to her and the confusing ‘should have done this a long time ago’ made her wonder if her dream had been more than just a dream.

 _What if it happened? Legolas said you fought in the battle? Legolas has said nothing about his first love…_ Questions and theories ran rampant round her weary mind. The night was cool and blissfully pleasant and she decided to find her lover and demand he tell her about Erebor in more detail.

She found him staring out over the grasslands surrounding the city, his eyes glittering under the hood of his cloak. Without warning she snuggled into his arms and closed her eyes, listening to his continuous heartbeat as he breathed steadily in and out. His arms encircled her waist and he rested his chin on her head, she breathed in his scent wondering how to begin her questioning without alarming him.

“Meleth…what is it? What’s wrong…” Legolas whispered, stroking her hair comfortingly. Eruanna blinked in surprise and looked up at him sleepily.

“Have you ever felt like we have done this before? Like... I don’t know, we just forgot we were lovers… I just can’t shake this feeling… Might I ask you something??” Eruanna stumbled over her words, feeling her cheeks burning red as her sweethearts confusion mounted. Legolas nodded smiling gently.

“You can ask me anything you like my flame, you need not ask for my permission first.” He murmured, kissing her affectionately before waiting expectantly for her to continue.

“Who was the first person you ever kissed?” Eruanna asked, blushing lightly and hiding her face in his neck.

“You.” Legolas answered, grinning playfully and kissing her cheek as she glowered at him.

“You said I wasn’t your first…”

“It wasn’t the first time we kissed… I mean, you were very drunk and we were both very young…” Legolas paused and kissed her again until she demanded he explain himself. “It was just after the winter solstice, we had both been in the wine cellar and I fear I overestimated how much wine you could hold, so I carried you out into the frost to try and sober you up. Bear in mind that I had had far more wine than I should have too...”

“I don’t think I have actually seen you drunk” Eruanna interrupted, twining her fingers with his and kissing his knuckles. The elf smiled and returned her caresses before continuation his explanation.

“So we went to the pool and you started to be overly friendly as you often were and in my drunk state my heart felt like it should burst if I did not kiss you there and then… You were my first kiss, be it a drunken one. I never mentioned it because I you did not remember and it could have threatened our friendship, It is true as you know I have tried to find love within my own people but my love has always belonged to you… Now, has your curiosity been satisfied?”

“Not quite…what do you remember about the battle for Erebor, what do you remember about me being there?” her heart raced with excitement, hoping he had all the answers she needed but he only looked bewildered and released her from his embrace , concern lining his stern features.

“Meleth… There are holes in my memory about that day, I can remember your arrival and the panic in our enemies it caused, the way the cloaks of your army blotted out the sun as you took to surrounding the hills. The glimmer of Narian steel and you sitting above the rest in the chariot with that crown upon your head and your expression of glee when you ordered the attack… I remember you arguing with my farther… telling him not to banish me and us setting off for Ravenhill… I remember seeing you fight on Ravenhill too, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you so angry nor had I ever seen you fight the way you did… But in-between these memories are things that should be there that are not…” Legolas paused to collect himself and she nestled back into his shoulder letting him try and work it out further.

“Eruanna… when you say you feel like we have done this before does it feel like it goes in a circle.” She looked up at him, she was not alone in her thoughts.

“You mean like we are friends then for a while there is a space then I go to war and we are back to being friends and where that space is; is where we are now?”

The elf nodded slowly. Eruanna thought through every piece of lore she knew, every spell that could remove pieces of time but nothing came of it. _What about removing memories?_ There were so many she had not a clue were to start then she remembered her brother. If he was still in Edoras, it where she would start. _It won’t be pleasant for him but he should know by now not to meddle with my heart._

It seemed as though Devae had gone into hiding so after searching for him with Legolas she gave into his pleas to leave her brother be and followed him back into the warm glowing hall. For now she was contented to sit in the elf’s lap and steal food from his plate. For now, she would be patent with her twin and eventually the truth would emerge.


	23. A Suggestion And A Truth

The dragon was becoming a menace, having set fire to Théoden’s chair and tearing apart most of his sheildmaid’s dresses, both dragon and owner had been banished to the outskirts of the city till night fell. Not that anyone  save Aragorn realised there was a small dragon in their midst yet so Eruanna had landed the blame for the damage. Now it seemed the days dragged on and Eruanna sat alone, waiting for the stars to come.

She groaned with boredom, two days ago she knew she would hate Edoras but now she grew tired of it. Most of all she was lonely; she had become too accustomed to being with others that she had forgotten herself, basking in new feelings that she had never experienced before and never wanted to forget. Once this was over she would be a traitor, a murderer and an exile all over again those feelings would be scars upon her heart. Even Legolas would forget her. The stars seemed dull and cheerless and all their beauty was faded from them.

"I never thought losing someone you love would hurt" she contemplated out loud, running her fingers over the flat of her blade, remembering the sting of a different wound that could heal with magic and medicine.

"It does, I would know" answered Legolas sat beside her on the steps, "and I could never leave you.” His hands began to work more braids into her hair, the soft lull distracting her momentarily.  

Eruanna sighed, flinching as her finger slipped and beads of red welled up in her hand, "you say that now, but what happens when I become the wicked girl you once witnessed slaughter blameless people, the one who would kill her family for a place for more power, what then? You would leave me and you would be right to do so, I'm dangerous, a trained killer with a thirst for blood, no matter what, that instinct is with me for eternity," Eruanna replied before adding "You do not know loss as I do.”

"You forget I lost my mother," he reminded her, ignoring her other remark about him leaving.

"So did I…" she muttered. She saw the pain flash in his eyes and shame leaked through the wall surrounding her heart.  He didn’t deserve her harsh words. The loss of his mother was far more recent and still raw, her own mother was long forgotten brought on in times of war as propaganda.

"I'm sorry Legolas I didn't mean it like that" she said as he moved away from her. Taking his hand in hers she scooted up next to him and rested her head on his shoulder hoping he would forgive her. He wrapped an arm round her waist and she smiled at him.

"Do you miss her? Your mother… do you miss her still?" he asked, his eyes reflecting the cool blue sky. Somewhere within her old memories stirred but she contained them, locking them back in the darkness they belonged to.

"I miss her every day" she lied, hoping his sympathy would make him forget her comment. Her mothers face was a distant memory, her voice was dust in the wind. What memory remained was violent and final not of love nor comfort.

"I still haven't forgiven you" he said as she began to get comfortable, wriggling into his arms and biting his neck playfully.

"I don't care. I'm cold and I want some ale." she giggled, he raised an eyebrow disapprovingly before pulling her closer. Her eyes set on a moth floating past in the crisp breeze; its pale wings the colour of snow. In the distance she could hear Branimir shrieks as he hunted and Legolas kept looking around trying to locate the owner. Legolas was silent for a minute, thinking, his fingers tickling her arm.

“I swear on my honour I will never leave you." The elf reassured her, “but if you want others to trust you? Start trusting yourself.” Eruanna wanted to argue with him but his breath tickled her ear as he kissed her and she was struggling to think of anything appropriate to answer with.

"I hate it when you are clever with me" she complained, shoving him off as his hands began to wander aimlessly over her skin.

"Shhh, I'm thinking" he whispered, pinching her gently on her ribs before tucking her back in his embrace.

"About what?"

"Something Gimli said when your brother arrived." The elf was avoiding directly telling her and she resolved to find out what, nipping the tips of his ears. He shivered with delight and kissed her back before she pulled away to continue her interrogation.

"My brother?" she enquired, curiosity peaking as the semi-jealous tone in her lover’s voice increased.

"Are you close as siblings?" the elf questioned, kissing her softly. Don’t let him distract you.

"Yes, we have our fights and our extensive disagreements but we have never let them come between us."

"Does he approve of me?" Legolas probed.

"He has not said anything on the matter" she lied.

"I do not believe that" he muttered, kissing her cheek. He seemed hesitant and kept looking as if he wanted to say something but couldn't find the right words or wasn't sure she would like them. After a few more moments he stood and began to walk away.

"Where do you think you're going?" she called after him.

"I hear there is a spot here where you can see a bright and beautiful star that can only be seen at one day of the year" he answered, darting up the hill.

"Elves" she cursed, struggling to her feet and following him, her curiosity wetted by the impish look that had filled his eyes. Somehow she beat him to the highest point of Edoras and scanned the sky; there was no difference from where she had been before. She looked back down to where he stood smiling up at her a picture of virtue.

"I see no stars" she told him.

"I can see it, and she is so very lovely" he answered coming up the hill to join her, wrapping his arms round her waist.

"Where?" she demanded, only half irritated with him. The view of the sky was spectacular, Great swathes of light running in waves in the blackness. It was as though candles had been blown up into the endless  wall and had never gone out. “Where is this famous star?”

"Im holding her now" he whispered softly, kissing her cheek.

She beamed at him, "I see you are a romantic" she giggled, "But you made me walk all this way for nothing so you can carry me down."

"Not for nothing" he told her taking her hands in his; he lent in and kissed her softly."I want you to listen to me and say nothing till I have finished, can you do that" he asked.

Eruanna looked at him in confusion, calmly he lent in and kissed her again, "I promise" she sighed.

"Eruanna, I love you, I know this is the last thing you want to hear but these past months have been the happiest moments in my life." He began. She felt her stomach knot. She knew what this was he was right, she didn’t hear it. "Will you do me the honour of becoming my wife?"

There it was: the one question that she had dreaded to hear, yet from him it was a bitter sweetness and her heart wept for the injustice of being asked it. Her mind told her what she had told herself over and over; she would lose her freedom, but her heart told her that her freedom was less significant to her.

"Will you give me some time?" she asked. He smiled and nodded.

"You can have as long as you want, and I know you did not want me to ask so soon."

"Then why ask?" she muttered.

"There is no future without risks and we are at war."

"You would have me as your wife above all others who could love you far better than me" she questioned.

"I would have you to be my wife or have no wife at all. Everyone may call me mad but I will answer that they are fools to not see how perfect she really is" he replied, caressing her cheek and kissing her hand.

Oh, if only her head and heart did not battle and did not hate the others desires. Any other maiden with the same feelings would not even consider it refusing him. My heart wants it but my head will never allow it.. He kissed her again and she could feel how much he wanted her to say yes but still her mind refused to obey her heart. She tried to form the words but no words came out. Why, why was he so patent with her when such a reaction to a good natured question deserved nothing but loathing.

Her head began to weigh out what could and could not be. She could have a safe and protected life free from and harm again. She could not walk away from it and change everything within a heartbeat. There would be many who opposed it, they would be disgusted and ashamed to know her. It would be a chance to be free of her king. She would be with someone who would not damage her and cast her aside when he was weary of her.

"It is wrong. Our kinds should not mix" her head screamed.

"There is no future without risks" her heart begged clawing for air as her head closed in.

"There is no future for you without excitement and passion now" her head agreed sullenly but still her lips could not form the word yes.

I can’t do it…” she whispered and the sadness filled his eyes, tears filled her own eyes and she kissed him tenderly. The feeling of her heart shattering like splinters of ice. Her mind suddenly filled with the same grief and it relaxed its grip upon her stone heart, melting away the granite that held it captive. Legolas began to release her from his grip and she finally found her voice. “Very well on one condition.”

"What merry chains they shall be" her heart sang gleefully as its opponent backed down. She lent up and kissed him deeply, his feeling the warmth rush through her body, the dizzying nausea of delight and shock.

"Is that a yes?" he murmured.  She nodded slowly, as he trailed kisses back down her neck, his arms holding her firmly so she could not escape.

“With a condition…”

"I thought marriage was unconditional" he sighed.

"You will like it."

"Very well."

"My family members are not invited to the wedding" Eruanna demanded.

"I think I can live with that" he chuckled. He lent in and kissed her fervently.

"Legolas…" she breathed.

"Hmm."

"I think there is a star that is brighter than the rest" she replied, kissing his jaw as he glanced out over the plains.

"So there is" he sighed as she buried her face in his hair.

* * *

Elation was all he felt as he held her in his arms. A euphoria that swam around him dizzily and soared like a phoenix up upon the air, disbelief was all he felt next, he had presumed she would declined for the panic that had spread across her brow had been more than clear. He would have held her for eternity but she began to protest bitterly about the cold and how hungry she was so he let her slip from his grasp and hurry away down the hill to the great hall. He set out to follow but was stopped by a figure still hooded and cloaked in purple.

"Congratulations" Devae drawled, leaning casually on a tree as if there was nothing better he could do. "I pray you make my sister happy, I would hate to see her upset."

"I will do all I can" Legolas replied uneasily, his hand ready to fly to his blade.

"My sister deserves a life of luxury, not one living in a grimy forest with people who she cannot converse with" the Naira continued, readying to fight back

"She knows some of our tongue and I can teach her the rest." Devae shook his head, and began to square up to him, something in the way he held himself was too familiar. I’ve been here before… It’s like we are going round in circles Eruanna said...

"I don't want to lose another of my family for whatever reason" he spat.

"Then you will be glad that you are not going to lose her, I would never allow any harm to come to her" Legolas argued, straining his eyes into the blackness looking for his lover who called from the entrance to the hall.

"I will not come first anymore, you shall be her favorite" answered the Naira,his eyes turning a very dark green. Jealousy.

"No but she will love you no less." Devae looked him up and down, baring his jagged teeth so they glittered in the raising moon.

"I wish you all the luck in this godforsaken land. You will need it, she will not stay forever. Know this elf, I will kill you if you even think about hurt her...in any way..." he spat and vanished in a cloud of blackness.

* * *

There was a commotion coming from the great hall, shaking of the unease Devae had placed upon him Legolas went to investigate.

"What's going on?" Legolas asked Aragorn, watching Eruanna tear up several maps and kick a guard in the shin.

"Eruanna is insulting the king" was the response from the man, his sword already in his hand should things get worse. Theoden's usually gentle nature and calm composure looked very rattled. Clearly no one had warned him about her lack of respect when it came to authority figures.

"I am the king" Théoden roared from across the table in front of them, drawing his sword. Legolas readied himself like Aragorn to protect the man as Eruanna went dangerously calm. She settled herself, crouching on the table as a cat does waiting for its prey. She raked her nails across the wood a grinding sound echoing round the room as Theoden bellowed the phrase ‘I am king here’ over and over.

"And I do not bow to kings" Eruanna hurled back, drawing herself up to her full height, towering above the man with the extra height of the table beneath her.

"We were discussing whether it was safer to travel to helms deep and she just swanned in here and told him that it was a ridiculous idea to move everyone to a fortress. Theoden told her that she was only a woman and couldn't understand how dangerous these times where, we all feared she’d take his head off for that but Gimli thinks Gandalf has put her up to this, so far only the maps and the guards shin have been wounded." Aragorn explained, relaxing a little as the Naira backed down. Eruanna was leaning back studying the map with an innocent expression playing across her face as Rohan's king bellowed out every insult he could think of. Once he had done she looked up at him with steely determination, tossing the paper over her shoulder as it burst into flame.

"If you want your people to be massacred then take them to a fort with only one way out. We will be expected to go there seeing as you failed to kill your advisor, who by now will be leaching all your secrets to our enemy. As for my being a woman, you are but a child, go play with your wooden horses rather than trying to play at war. That is for the experienced." she answered icily.

"What would you know of such matters" Théoden muttered darkly, “What would your kind know of defending a stronghold. Your armies are a mess, your ranks filled with slaves You call it courage but it is fear that you fight with. When you attack you do it in the open where no one can surprise you. Tell me my lady, what battles have you really fought”

"Just the small matter of six hundred and fifty battles that I have fought in, three hundred and seventy of which involved forts and nine of them of a similar design to yours" Eruanna snapped, “as for my army, the only slaves we keep are that of your race… and they are the first to fall upon the battlefield. They are the disorderly, the cowardly. You are nothing but a joke posing as a king, you can barely rule your own niece let alone a kingdom.”

"Should we intervene?" Gimli inquired, gulping the rest of his ale down and picking up his axe.

"Give it five minutes and she will let him get on with evacuating the city" Legolas answered, instantly regretting it.

With Theoden's next insult, Eruanna smirked then with reflexes of a panther, grabbed the king by the front of his belt  buckle and head-butted him hard in the nose before storming out, screaming that the man was an ‘Idjit’ and should be thrown off a cliff to the wargs. Théoden stood clutching his head in confusion before returning to his throne with all the dignity he could muster.

Five minutes later; Eruanna had returned and sat with her feet up on the table sipping the king's wine as they planned the evacuation. She behaved as if the prior argument never happened and flicked threw maps after map of the keep, studying each one in great detail. Legolas pulled up a seat next to her to see what she was puzzling on.

"Your brother seems delightful" he whispered in her ear. She froze mid sip of her drink before spitting the wine back into the goblet turning to looks at her betrothed with mild horror.

"He's still here?" she hissed.

"Yes… I was wrong about one thing, there are more selfish people in middle earth than you" he muttered.

"What did he want" she asked, gulping down the remains of her drink.

"He tried to make me change my mind about you." He watched her close her eyes in frustration,rubbing her temples as she remembered some detail she still refused to share.

"Well, that was more than expected."

 

"He thinks I am stealing you away" Legolas said thoughtfully, cupping her cheek in his hands.

"You are… tell you what, I will speak to him, change his mind or..."

 

"Or what" Legolas questioned, watching realization and anger cross Eruanna’s face. Her eyes turned a dark purple as she tried to control it before she stood, snatching up her weapons and stalking.

**  
**  


* * *

She burst out of the golden hall; anger seething round her bloodstream. Her brother had no right to follow her here. He had no right to spoil her plans, he had no right to change her memories or frighten her love into submission.

Screaming in anger she attacked the nearest pillar, hacking at it as she commanded her brother show himself. After nothing happened she settled herself on the steps, looking around as she smelt his scent on the air.

"Up here." She looked up to the rooftop to see her brother standing over her.

"Have you come to lord over your immense stupidity" she snapped.

"My dear sister; come up here, you wound me with such harsh words" he laughed. Reluctantly she scrambled up the side of the hall and stood beside him on the roof. "I could push you off here right now and they would think you jumped sister" he warned as she began to eye his knives suspiciously, raising her own ready to strike.

"I could do the same to you" Eruanna reminded him. Her brother grinned at her, pulling her dagger out of her hand dropping it onto the grass below them. Branimir fluttered down beside and began growling at the man with disdain.

"I'm happy for you sister."

"You have an odd way of showing it" she muttered, wondering who to get him to admit to taking away her past from her.

"What will we do when all the wars have finished and there is no place for us?" Devae asked.

"There never was a place for us but we have always gotten by and we always will" Eruanna told him. Her brother smiled weakly.

"I suppose you heard about my wife when you visited court." He inquired, settling beside the dragon. Eruanna followed his example and attempted to remain comfortable. Her dragon wrapped a leathered wing around her as the chill of night set in and she rested her head on its neck.

"She left me." She couldn't say she was surprised,her brother had a long history of lovers and many had children by him. Being his sister was bad enough being his wife must have been hell."I think I loved her Eruanna and she's gone, I don't want the same to happen to you" he continued,looking for sympathy but receiving very little.

"If she left you then she wasn't right for you. I would gladly sacrifice myself for Legolas but if he would not do the same then we are not to be as we are.Love hurts and you must fight to keep it." she advised him before deciding it was time he paid for his insults to her. “Brother mine? Might I ask you something… I want you to answer truthfully…”

Devae nodded, he knew what it was already.  Eruanna sighed, before holding out her hand to shake on it. Her brother smiled and accepted defeat.

“Why take my memories only to give me them back now?”

“Because if I cannot be happy in love then you should be. In the past you belonged to the state, your love divided your loyalties but now you no longer follow the king so you are free to choose your heart… I am sorry you feel I betrayed you, It was better a friend or brother did it than our uncle.”

“I should kill you for the insult alone. I should flay you alive for taking away Legolas’s memories...you could have killed him. No good can come of magic.” Eruanna spat, the dragon growling as his skin changed a venomous black. Her brother lowered his eyes in shame.

“You speak of magic when you speak of destruction. You are famed for using a blade rather than your magic to fight, yet you use it nonetheless, recently it seems you have used it often.”

**  
**  


"You know what happens when we use magic, blood is drawn and if it is not the balance of the world shifts and dark things are born from it" she chided, “I only use it to protect those I care for. I would rather however resolve it fairly with our gods choosing who dies. Only steel can do that.”

"So, you would murder a man with cold steel but not with hot fire" he asked, “You would deny what you were born as?”

"I like to look into people's eyes to see what they feel as they die. Magic is a coward's tool to an easy end" she told him, “I do not deny my species because of it.”

"If you insist, I would warn you to watch your back sister but you will not listen… the king is watching your every move. You are strong will Eruanna and have been from the day you were born, you know what your heart wants and they fear that. Promise me little sister you will tread carefully" Devae begged.

"I cannot promise you anything" she told him. He remained quiet and continued to watch the sun rising above the skyline. The calm between them that had once been returned and she saw the longing for home in his mind once more.

"Your king will want to see you are well" she said softly, handing him a small bracelet she bore as a memory of her. “Go, should I perish you are all that remains of our line, our sisters are of no use to us.”

"Take care sister" and with that he was finally gone. She sat under the hood of a sleeping dragons wing as the day turned bleak and poured with rain. the world seemed grey and lifeless and she felt the bitter descent of hopelessness cave in around her.

 

 


	24. Past Grievances

Eowyn was as cold as she was fair. He watched for several moments as she practiced welding her blade before deciding to test her, stepping behind the princess and drawing his blade. He found her reflexes a little slow but her skill was decent, supposedly, having never handled a sword . Aragon wondered if perhaps he should introduce her to the Naira so that she may learn to improve but decided Eruanna’s methods were not kind to those who had not the energy to work for hours without a break.

“You have some skill with a blade.” He told her, lowering the knife he held as he watched some emotions stir in her eyes. So, the lady can be thawed.

“The women of this country learned long ago, those without swords can still die upon them. I fear neither death nor pain.” Eowyn answered curtly, her own blade now sheathed in a cloth.

Curious, Aragorn decided to pry further.

“What do you fear my lady?”  

“A cage, to stay behind bars until use and old age accept them and all chance of valour has gone beyond recall or desire.” She replied, so sign of tremor in her voice as she continued to pack away her belongings, Aragorn thought for a moment, trying to find the right words to encourage her.

“You are a daughter of kings, A shield maiden of Rohan.” He told her gently. “I do not think that will be your fate.” There was something within her that resembled Arwen’s courage, and he felt moved to help her. Though he would not encourage her to follow the dangerous path she had chosen. There were others who would, though,  he was certain of that.

“Will you ride with me?” He asked, feeling that there was something he could learn from her.

Surprised, the woman looked up.

“I should like that.” She answered smiling faintly, a spark of what he thought was hope in her blue eyes, before going about her duties.  For a moment Aragorn stayed and  watched her then wandered the gloom of the corridors, gazing up at the tapertys of Gondor and Rohan until he turned back to find his companions.

* * *

Gimli sat at the furthest part of the hall, feet propped up against the bench as he munched on the food provided, content with the peace ,and so far,  there had been no more arguments with the king, save for Gandalf’s protests at leaving Edoras. He had to agree with Théoden that it seemed the logical idea. The dwarf sat discussing what was to be done with Gandalf but Legolas was nowhere to be seen and his absence was causing friction between the wizard and Aragorn being the one to usually control the tension between leaders..

“Aragorn, have you seen the elf?” Gimli asked, looking up from the meat he was tucking into.

“Not since dawn.” Aragorn answered sitting opposite him heavily.

“I fear you need to keep an eye on him Aragorn, he is becoming too involved with Eruanna” Gandalf warned.  Aragorn glanced at the dwarf ,who had stopped eating and was listening tentatively to the conversation.  He had seen the looks shared and the closeness between them. The way she would huddle up to him, and he would accept without argument. It worried him, yet he could not feel entirely unhappy about it, it meant there was someone who could control her to an extent.

“I’m sure he knows what he’s doing” the dwarf argued, gulping down his drink, wiping away the falling drips on his sleeve and trying hard to ignore the looks both companions gave him. I will not say a word. I gave a promise.

“What do you know?” Aragorn demanded, his eyes darkening as suspicion set in.

“Nothing, nothing at all.” Gimli answered, shovelling food into his mouth in incapacitate him from having to speak.

Gandalf gave Aragorn a worried look.

“Do not let her out of your sight, her brother hasn’t gone as she told us earlier, I saw him lurking about the stables.”

“Have no fear, she will not ruin the plans, I think Legolas’s attempts to court her are becoming more successful, her attention is elsewhere and the ring forgotten for now.” Aragorn assured him. Satisfied for the time being in his meddling,  Gandalf settled back to his pipe and Gimli to his now tasteless meal, leaving Aragorn to think over all that could come from the next few days.

* * *

 

Early morning had always been the time to sneak away and go hunting but it seemed the wizard was keeping a close eye on her so that would be impossible. Legolas’s blood had provided a longer stretch of time so Eruanna was more relaxed about spending the day inside the city walls than she usually would be and she had set herself the task of tending the horses.

Cool air mingled with the warmth of the stables from the open door. The crisp smell of morning mingling with the comforting smell of hay and bedding. Soft knickers of the horses from the stalls lulled her senses and she set about sweeping out the first few stalls in placid harmony as the bustle of the city began.

She was scrubbing down her horse’s dappled body when she felt the warm arms wrap lightly round her waist and a soft kiss placed upon her cheek.  The sweet scent that was of forests and the wild that was only describable as ‘Legolas’ curled around her, caressing her stiff joints and helping her relax.

“I love you” her betrothed murmured, biting her neck to get her attention fully focused on him. the feeling of joy in the pit of her stomach returned and she leant heavily on him as he ran his fingers through her hair, pulling out straw and dirt, frowning in disapproval. “You’re perfect, I love you” he whispered again, nuzzling her neck to get her attention away from the horse that she was trying to care for.

“You’re a fool.” she mumbled back before allowing him a kiss upon her lips, he pulled her in for another ignoring her complaints that she had work to do before breaking away and leaving her breathless.Tease. “Won’t the others want to know where you keep disappearing off to? Gandalf might confess our sins to the others than I am surely dead are you sure they don’t suspect something,” she asked after she had untangled herself from his grasp.  

“They won’t have noticed I’m gone yet, it is still early and I am often away chasing the sun” Legolas said playfully, ducking a swipe she made at him with the damp cloth.

“Well, if you must come here and torment me, you can help by finding a saddle to fit my friend here” she squealed, swiping at him again and again, missing each time, as the elf flicked some hay in her face.

“We could just tell them about us” he suggested, the topaz of his eyes glowing with something close to mischief.

“What? And let them miss out on guessing where we are?” she laughed as he tripped over the bucket of water and fell with all the grace he could muster into a deep pile of hay. He scowled at her as she helped him to his feet and she kissed him apologetically.

“You bring out the strangest emotions in me mellemin” he told her, pulling her into his chest for a moment until the horse butted her irritably and ruined the romance. Eruanna picked up the brush and went back to grooming the creature and Legolas watched for a moment till he picked up the saddle and handed it to her.

“Is that bad?” she asked, “Having odd emotions… I imagine it is, or at least having emotion is supposed to be wrong but who can help what they feel?” She took the saddle from him as a sad half-smile crossed his face and she lent in, kissing him lightly then strapping the seat to the horses back.

“I don’t know, maybe but I would not have it another way. “ He took hold of the horse bridle and began to speak softly to it in his own tongue. Eruanna smiled and sat down to watch, some called it the magic of elves but she called it intuition and an understanding of lives other than your own. Her mind wandered to other things as the soft lilt of his voice settled her. The horse stamped impatiently and Legolas shushed it, scratching his ears before glancing over at her.

“What would your father say to our marriage” she asked curiously, running her fingers through the unbraided side of her hair absentmindedly, The elf settled beside her in the bedding,

“I doubt highly that he will approve” Legolas considered, “but it will not change my mind.. I have something for you.” That was something Eruanna desired to see. King Thranduil (dare she say it) was as stubborn as a dwarf and not half as pleasant company when angry. More over his hatred of dwarves was only matched by his utter loathing of Naira and she shuddered to think what he would do to her if he could get away with it. Legolas  nudged her gently from her train of thought, in his hand he held a small ring.

Gingerly she took it and inspected it. It was of floral design and had purple and green stones set into it. She thought she had seen it before but couldn't think where. Could it be? No...his father would never allow it.

“It’s really pretty… but I can’t take this.” Eruanna sighed, offering it back to him, Legolas shook his head.

“I want you to have it, call it an engagement ring if you like… It was my mother’s, my father gave it to her on their betrothal.”

“Legolas, I really shouldn't, what if i lose it or it gets damaged? Legolas, it was your mothers, won’t your father be angry should you give it away?” she protested, her fiance took her hand and and closed her fingers round the cool silver band. “This means a lot to you doesn’t it?”

“Yes...It means everything to me.. please, if you will not wear it, at least have it around your neck…” Reluctantly she let him place it on her finger, kissing the back of her hand and smiling at her adoringly. “There… was that really so hard?”

“I still think I will lose it…” Eruanna complained, “I shall be fighting some enemy and it will fall off, it’s happened before.”

“Then put it somewhere safe when you decide to fight.”

Eruanna couldn't help smile, twisting the ring round on her index  finger so the gems caught the light, it was like water running through her fingers and fitted comfortably, though, one of the stones dug a little into her skin. Legolas pulled her under his arm and she closed her eyes, listening to his happy elvish murmurs as he complemented her over and over. It didn’t matter that she understood little, it mattered that he loved her.

 **  
**  


* * *

The sun had only just risen as the people of Rohan walked sullenly out of Edoras. Gimli was struggling to maintain sitting on the horse he had been given, Eruanna suspected someone thought it amusing to watch the dwarfs stout little legs attempt to maintain the large bulk perched on top of the saddle.  Legolas had been charged with keeping a look out and Aragorn was occupied with talking to the king so she walked alone in contented silence. Gandalf had done as he was famed for and left at the last minute saying that they had to survive five days. Wizards however were not known for their punctuality so she held no high hopes that they wouldn’t have to wait longer. She turned her attentions to the lady Eowyn who she had seen in the hall some days earlier.

“That is one who has seen little joy” Eruanna considered, “Yet it is not grief that makes her heart seem like frost.” She observed her for some time taking pleasure from the woman’s laughter and not the sadness that had seemed all consuming days before, even the kings mood was lightened by the lady’s joy and Eruanna felt lenient for a while to allow herself to relax.

Spirits were high by midday, nothing it seemed had been sent yet to kill them and Gimli seemed to enjoy explaining the quirks of his species so she felt no need to dampen the mood with their new comrades, the peasants however she took delight in scaring at every opportunity, smiling a toothy grin at them a they passed or flashing the reds of her eyes at the children who leaped away in terror. It was after she had gotten bored of this exercise when suddenly the horse  that carried the dwarf bucked and Gimli fell from its back. Eruanna found herself in fits of giggles and Gimli gave her an indignant look.

Turning her attention to other matters, she noticed Aragorn now walking with Eowyn who she had discovered was the niece of Théoden. Eowyn was flicking her hair and smiling at every word the man made; hanging onto every syllable as if to miss a beat would kill her.

“Is this love for the frozen maid?” Eruanna asked herself, it could well be for her freezing sadness seemed to be melting in the warm air and the place of her cheeks becoming the colour of roses in the summer garden in the palace gardens in her homelands. Looking round she saw young children, old men and women, struggling along at a steady pace but the uneasy feeling of being watched growing stronger it did not settle her. She went in search of their scout and found him high above surveying the landscape. Legolas smiled and she kissed his cheek, turning to look out over the rocks below them.

The grey as far as she could see troubled her, with no sign of movement but plenty of sounds below the rocks;  she did not wish to pass near them. The land itself was avoided by her own kind. Exiled Naira roamed there frequently, clans such as clan Matis that would kill anything that was not of pure Narian blood would find easy pickings among the weak stragglers of the villagers. To make matters worse, the dragon had vanished so there was little hope of an early warning.

"What troubles you" Legolas asked not taking his eyes from the skyline.  She too gazed out across the hills and fields but saw nothing, despite the sudden decaying smell in the breeze.

“I feel uneasy, as though every eye of Mordor is upon us and the feeling grows as we move along this road, I fear we are being tracked… either by one enemy or another, my people use these lands to hunt, we are easy targets here and while I can protect you, the others I can do nothing for," Eruanna replied, her voice trailing off at the sound of panicked shouts.The elf snapped round and notched an arrow to his bow, she drew her blade as screams and the stench of blood flooded her senses.

**  
**

"Warg riders" Aragorn yelled from below as Legolas began to shoot.  Over the rocks great wolves of brown matted fur and drooling jowls poured, howling and snarling, their riders struggling for control. People screamed around her and ran in all directions, shoving and pushing each other to try and aid their own course of escape. Cowards. Craven fools. You cannot run fast enough.  Preparing to leap, her sword glinting in the sun she felt a hand pull her away from the edge.

"Eruanna,you must  help get these people to safety, I'll stay and fight" Legolas cried, pulling Gimli back into the saddle. Over protective, over bearing oaf. No! I will not run away.

“Do not tell me what I must do, please Legolas, I fear I am no help to them but I can fight " Eruanna begged, swinging her blade at a warg that got to close, the comfort of battle beginning to fill the distant hole in her belly. Legolas glared at her, a silent do not argue with me, I will not watch you die  plastered on his features and reluctantly Eruanna turned herself around , put away her blade and yelled orders for people to form an orderly line, meeting the sheildmaid who was struggling to deal with the chaos alone. Quickly she and Eowyn gathered the people together and together lead them away from the battle.

Wailing from behind stopped Eruanna in her tracks and the screams of a lost child quickly changed her goal. Instructing rohans princess to lead the way she scooped up the bawling child shushing it as it buried its snotty face in her tunic. Wrinkling her nose Eruanna,  wiped the little girls tear away with a mucky ribbon that she wore under her wrist brace cooing softly to hush its sniffles.

Helm’s deep was almost on sight when a warg crawled over a rock, people backed away frantically crying out and pushing others in front of them. The girl in her arms wailed and thrashed, Eowyn pushed her way through the crowds, sword drawn but Eruanna shook her head, handing the child to the startled maiden.  

“Find the mother, I will deal with this.”

The grey wool and limping mass of death launched itself onto a man and he howled as his flesh was opened to the world. Eruanna tasted the blood upon the air and watched frozen in horror as howls escaped the mortal before stopping abruptly.

"Sorry, Legolas, but this one has my name on it" she muttered decidedly, "Eowyn, get them out of here," drawing her sword, Eowyn looked reluctant to leave, the infant in her arms fighting to run away.

“Go. I will hold it off” she ordered the woman then she turned to face the repulsive creature. Silvia hung from yellowed teeth, blood smearing its muzzle. Its eyes were the pits of hell and its breath upon the wind too vile for words.

Whistling at the beast to get its attention, she knelt low to the ground, minimizing places for it to bite. It leaped in an arc towards her; Eruanna dived sideward, grabbing the girth under its stomach, kicking wildly in its groin, in its stomach, anywhere it might feel pain. The beast wined, thrashing with discomfort as the rider tried to slice her throat but leaning to one side put him at the disadvantage and she smiled sweetly up at him as she began to saw at the leather holding the saddle.

"So long, monster" she snarled, cutting the strap and swinging herself on the wargs back. The rider yelled in surprise and slid off the beast that had carted it from Isengard, his brains dashed out on the rocks below. Eruanna took up the riders’ position, quickly her senses shut down and focused on the task and she drove the dagger into the beast’s skull. Gore splattered across her face. “Well that’s not going to be obvious to the elf at all”,  she thought, slipping of the twitching corpse and using what fur wasn’t flea ridden to wipe some of the blood away.

A cold laugh behind her froze her blood and she turned slowly, her eyes focusing in on a small group of scantly clad people surrounding a shrieking girl. Before Eruanna had time to blink the group ripped the woman to shreds laughing all the while, singing songs in a dialect so broken and harsh it grated her hears to hear it. From the tattoos they bore they where a scouting party of one of he clans and as predicted, they had found a straggler in the chaos. Calmly, Eruanna wandered over.

"I hope you're planning on clearing up this time, my regiment were not best pleased last time."

The group whipped round snarling, strange eyes staring maddeningly at her, fangs dripping with blood and venom.

"Who is it? Why is it so far from home?" One hissed softly. screeching as Eruanna drew her sword, taking its head off in the process. 

"My name, Is Eruanna, I am the daughter of the king who exiled you. Now fight me cowards."

The naira snarled and launched themselves at her as she predicted. They had been so long in the wild that any training they once knew had gone and their movements were sloppy. The executed each one with quick prosecution, murmuring the incantation that would disable them to heal and allow them to die like a mortal man. Once it was done, she knelt beside each one and prayed, before hiding their bodies in a pothole she descovered nearby. _There is no glory in death._

It was over at least for her. Most of the people were filing in through the gates of Helms deep; the sound of the other battle was dying out but there was no time to investigate.  Down the steep slopes and into the fort she went, running along the battlements to watch for the return of Théoden. Below cries of children could be heard but she did not hear them, she strained her ears for the calling of a trumpet. Soon a small line of horsemen drew into sight and she stumbled back down the steps. It had not taken much to see the sorrowful looks on her friend’s faces and the absence of a comrade and work out what had been to pass.

Legolas dismounted his horse but said nothing on the state of her clothes. “Eruanna…” he began but she wrapped her arms around him and held him tightly to her, smoothing his hair as he hid his face in her neck as though he were a child once more. “He’s not dead” Legolas muttered. She looked up at him sadly, wondering weather or not to argue, “I know he isn’t” he pressed. She had not the heart to tell him otherwise.

* * *

Later that day, Eruanna stood on the wall of the fortress, her palms rested on the cool stone. The wind was raising itself into a cold breeze and it brushed her hair out of her face. She did not know what she was watching for. Aragorn was dead. She wasn’t watching for him. Mortal life was to short, a candle; eventually burnt out or snuffed out by an enemy, she had come to terms with that long ago and rarely grieved for a mortal, if she did it would be for a short time, she saw no need in wasting tears on such a thing.

Aragorn was no different to any other mortal at least in her eyes, she may have respected him and trusted him more than any other man but she did not grieve deeply for him. Eruanna growled in frustration, a passing guard flinched and hurried on. Scanning the horizon again, she caught a scent, inhaling she smiled. One of her own kin, whether or not that was who she waited for, Eruanna did not care; it was a comfort to know that she was not the only outcast in middle earth. All of a sudden they all want something to do with me.

"Where are you, I'm waiting, Come on, I should like to know who I am to face before i leave this wall," Eruanna muttered, her patience was wearing thin. She had stood her ground on the wall since Legolas and Gimli had arrived back, nearly seven hours before. In the distance a figure emerged, riding a horse. Smiling Eruanna watched the figure approach. It was near enough to see that the figure was female, and Naira. Eruanna grinned. Time to meet the "stranger" she hurried down the steps to the gate,  her armour changing into the red and black colours of her regiment as she prepared for an all out war with who ever dared find her in the fort.

"Open the gate" Eruanna ordered the guard, both blinked at her before crossing their spears. I tried to be nice.

"My lady, the king has ordered us not to" one of them replied, gritting his teeth as she begun to inflict a headache upon him.

Eruanna turned on his friend who seemed to be shivering with terror already. _Lilly liveried sap, what kind of a guard flinches at an innocent girl?_

"If you don’t I will kill you slowly and painfully, in every way I know how." She let her fangs slip into view and smiled coldly at the guard whose face was now as white as frost on a snow covered mountain.

"Yes, my lady, I’m sure the king will understand my lady.”

“Thank you" Eruanna gave him a faint glimmer of a smile, and slipped through the crack in the gate.

 

"Well, Well, Well, Elrénia I didn’t think I would be requiring your help" Eruanna chuckled "or is it that the mighty Elrénia, needs help from me, the Traitor."

The naira snarled and slipped off her horse.

"First of all this was not my idea. Second you know perfectly well why I am queen and you are not, Traitor." The woman jabbed, her blade gleaming in her belt like the teeth of a dragon Eruanna felt her stomach twist.  Now would be a good time for the dragon to be around. Where is he? He’s been absent all day.

"You call me traitor, yet I do not see what I did wrong, other than to put love above hate, we once loved each other sister, do you not remember that, or have you rammed your crown so far up your anus you have forgotten?" Eruanna muttered darkly, her fingers tracing the hilt of her knife. The other Naira had not noticed the threat.

"Oh, it doesn’t know. Famous Eruanna doesn’t know...I shall tell you." Elrénia hissed,; the malice in her voice was clear, filled with vengeance and determination. She is trying to break you… how can she break me more than I am?

"First of all, you Eruanna, were sworn to protect our race" Elrénia began, pulling a list from her pocket.

"I swore to protect my race" Eruanna spat, “I am pure blood, you are just a mongrel.”

"My race, your race what does it matter, we all have fangs and we all have wings" Elrénia retorted before continuing, "then you fall in love, which is acceptable on some accounts but when we go to war, you must forget love and remember your comrades. You were leading that army, remember. Every single one of those troops died, because of you. You abandoned them to save your lover, they trusted you, needed you and where where you. In Mirkwood sitting by an elf’s bedside as he grieved for a relation. The worst of it  is you lead them to the battle then in the middle of it you crept away, they needed orders but you had fled because you had more important things than the lives of your own people, and here you are. Helms deep, with thousands depending on you. You’re not fit to lead a dog on a walk, let alone an army" Elrénia spat the last words with poison in her eyes.

"You know not of that day, yes I left them to die, yes I went to Mirkwood, but you don't know my past Elrénia if you did, you wouldn’t speak to me thus, you would cower in fear, shall I give you a taste of it: Blood covered wall; floors so deep in crimson that you could swim in it. I murdered just for the hell of it, I murdered new born babes in front of their mothers, drank of their blood and cast their limp corpses to the ground, and then I would kill the mother and brothers to, or I would let them live just to laugh at the nightmares they would suffer. I won’t tell you why I changed my mind but if you ever dare speak to me like that again, I will rip you head off with my bare hands and ram it up our uncles behind,  capreece?

Elrénia look slightly less smug and very pale at the reminder of what many had tried to forget; it had been the age of brutality and many had lost their lives because of it. An age where there were naira who would kill their own kind for food if necessary. An age where the feared lady Eris, the king’s bodyguard,  dominated the way things were run and had even the bravest people cowering in ear at her feet.  An age where no one was free. But the real lady Eris was in exile, and the fake, had gotten away with murder.

"I never wanted to fight another battle." Eruanna said softly, "I slit our king’s throat so he would not hurt us anymore. You know the legends of our kind being fearless in battle, never being defeated. It's all lies. What Naira leaves her friends and family behind? Murders her king and still holds her face up with pride?" She paused for breath..”

Elrénia only replied a line from a legend:  "a brave one, if it were to save countless others from a worse fate than she will suffer herself will sacrifice all she holds closest."

It was all words. Sugared words that poured from her sister’s mouth. They both knew that their friendship was dead and gone. Elrénia had been apart of the savage brutality. She had watched at her husband's side as he ordered people’s deaths and had done nothing. She had not fought for the rights of her family whom she claimed love and loyalty to. She had burned her own siblings had they opposed her and only stopped when Eruanna had threatened vengeance.

"You’re here for a purpose, not just to talk. What do you want?" Eruanna finally demanded. Elrénia nodded , handing her a piece of parchment. The moment of sentiment was gone.

"The council has lifted the proclamation of exile for the nobility therefore you have your position back in the house of Cultas, we require you to return immediately. War is upon us and this is your last chance."  

For a moment she would have gone with her but the cool metal ring around her neck reminded her of her loyalties and they were not to a state filled with liars and backstabbers. They were to the weak, to the poor and to those who needed hope.

Eruanna shook her head, choosing her words carefully, "for such words I am grateful but I do not want to leave, these people need me, I have a life now, one that I cannot toss aside as if it does not matter."

Her sister gave her a cold glare; "as you wish princess, but know this, you belong to us and always will, no matter how long it takes you will beg for us to have you back, our fortress in fangorn is still strong but we cannot hold it forever, our strength wanes and we soon, like elves must leave to our own lands, middle earth is not given to us, it is lent." With that she rode off she burst into flame and ash and vanished from view, leaving Eruanna to fight back the urge to run off into the coming night.

* * *

Standing in the door of helms deep, Eruanna knew her life would never become what it had been, she had been a mess and in some ways she still was, her father had seen to that, he had told her only purpose in life was to kill, and like a child she had believed it. Only now she was not a child, she knew the effects of long hours fighting. There had always been times when she had wished to be weak and defenceless and she would have traded her knives for some other skill such as singing and a face that was more alluring. None of that mattered anymore, she had someone who accepted her past and was willing to overlook her faults. Someone who did not want to change her into something she didn’t want to be. She did not have to be the heir to the throne as everyone wanted, she didn’t have to be responsible for the power it would grant her. She could turn it down.. She could abandon them to their oncoming doom.

"Eruanna, come inside its getting dark" the soft voice of Legolas whispered in her ear, startled she jumped before relaxing as the familiar caress down her neck soothed her nerves. Eruanna gazed out at the darkening sky, the stars seemed weaker by the minute and the moon was vacant upon some distant vacation.

"I keep wondering if this is the last time we will see the sun, if she will go to bed and never rise again, it can’t be long now" she thought out loud.

"You must not think that, there is hope yet" he scolded hugging his arms round her waist and kissing her neck. She let her eyes slip close, relaxing into the loose embrace of her betrothed. "Come now, its growing cold," the elf pestered, releasing her and turning her round to face him, smiling. Eruanna tried to force a smile but too much was going through her mind to pay attention to him. Legolas sensed her unhappiness. "Forget your troubles, my love, just for tonight, come, you need rest and by the sadness in your eyes more than a little love."  

"Do you really wish for me to do that, forget myself a little for tonight?"

He nodded, "it would do us both good to forget our sorrows for a few hours.”

"I’ll try; if only to make you happier but I fear I shall not forget completely."

"I couldn’t ask any more” Legolas said kissing her gently.

Eruanna let Legolas lead her away; she glanced back at the darkening sky, knowing that soon there would be no time to rest, no time for any to drop their cares, and run for no reason. Tonight they would remember their friends in each other’s company and make what time they had together precious.

 

**  
capreece- (narian) savvy/ok?**


	25. A Battle Of Men

Dawn came too soon for everyone, Legolas had long since left her side and the blankets without him were frost. She rose and ate hurriedly, hearing the commotion below. The sun burned her eyes but she blinked away the irritation and slipped through the crowds, curiosity mounting.

"He's alive" people were shouting, “He’s not dead.” Confused Eruanna searched the heads of the swarm for someone new but men all looked the same to her.

"Who?" Eruanna asked the nearest woman once she grew bored of the suspense.

"Lord Aragorn" the girl answered delightedly, her eyes aflame with joy.

"So; the man is harder to kill than most" she mused. She stepped away from the gathering crowds and climbed up the steps to see a grim tired face seated upon a horse.

"Where is he. I'll kill him" Gimli bellowed from lower down, fighting his way through the swell of people.

"Good luck with that dwarf that man is invincible now, word amongst these peasants say he fought his way here" she called to Gimli. The man smiled faintly at her and rolled his eyes.

"I see you are still your welcoming self Eruanna" Aragorn answered, sliding down from his horse and handing over the reigns. "Where is the king?"

 

The dwarf shrugged so he turned to her, "the king is in the keep along with his advisors, I believe they are working out how to make the food last the duration of the war" she informed him. She had never seen anyone move so fast. He was up the steps within moments and curiously she followed. Legolas stood in front of the doors to the keep.

"Le abdollen" he said before looking his friends up and down and adding; "You look terrible." He handed Aragon the pendant Arwen had given him and the orc had stolen.

"I told you he was alive" Legolas scolded her as she inspected the man closely for any sign he was not who he claimed.

"I never doubled you" she lied. Both of them gave her a sceptical glance before bursting into laughter before turning to face the aged king. The man flung open the doors to the keep where Théoden stood ordering others around him to prepare goods and food for the long days ahead.

"We have a problem." Aragorn began, the king looked wearily at him, evidently it had been a trying day. "There is an army headed for us."

Watching behind a stone column, Eruanna watched Aragorn arguing with Théoden. An army of uraki were coming from Isengard. They all seemed so scared, an army was no small matter to defeat, if you knew how but they were ill experienced in these situations and hadn't asked her advice yet. Even Legolas looked afraid but he hid it well. She rested her forehead against the cool stone, trying to drown out the voices.

“Insensitive gits, they could tune their voices down a little but no, they forget about me and what I might want" Eruanna thought, exhaustion in helms deep was causing fights to break out everywhere, and she was tiring of them. At first they had been amusing then a small nuance but now they were causing her grief and giving her a headache. She wanted to run away, anywhere, even the black tower would be better than this hall at that moment.

"Shut up, Shut up" she whispered. Looking up they were still arguing. "Oh for Eru's sake, shut up, this won't help, standing here is not going to defend Rohans people but fighting will, stop arguing and start preparing for war" she heard the words slip from her lips as soon as they had left, she clamped her hand over her mouth. Everyone stopped and turned on her.

"That is what we are deciding, we don't need your help" Théoden snapped back.

"Clearly not, I'll leave you to die then" Eruanna smirked "you don't need to decide. You need to act, there is no choice in this; they will hunt us down and kill us if we do not fight" Eruanna continued, knowing it was going through so many people's minds but they dare not speak it.

"And what would a woman know of this matter" Théoden spat.

"Naira, what would this Naira know, I grew up on the frontline of battle. Never have I seen a day where there has been peace and you dare to ask what do I know" Eruanna hissed, her friends prepared themselves to restrain her as she advanced on the king.

"You act as if you have seen the world and know everything there is to know but you do not know what is best for my people. You stand there judging us but never doing anything to help" Théoden chided.

"I have my own troubles to worry about" Eruanna replied coldly, “there are other pople besides yours who need defending, mine have spent their lives protecting yours but none of you see it.”

"What would you do?" asked Théoden curiously.

"I would listen to Aragorn" Eruanna advised "and stop questioning the Naira traitor." With that she let herself transform into smoke, and disappear.

The fortress looked so small and insignificant from so far above. The rocks where almost swathed in cloud. She could have climbed higher if she had wished but she could hear the cat calls of crows roosting and daren't at such a height risk another attack. She sat down on the ledge watching the pinpricks of men wandering around the fort. They seemed so lost and unsure of themselves. Death was so certain for many of them.

High up in the rocks she could watch the battle and never be harmed. It would be what most of her kin would do but she felt inclined to join in so long as the king did not give her orders. She had served so many kings she grew tired of their complaints their ignorance to the lives of others and the effects their wars eventually had. Once you had met one you had met them all. She held out her hand and watched it change from a solid form to grey smoke and back to flesh. Magic was a dangerous game to play but it could be a necessary evil to defend those she loved. Even if it met sacrificing her own life to save theirs. The clouds rumbled readily.

"Remember child. When it rains on a battle it means you are in for a surprise" her father had told her. It was of course a silly story to scare her. A black feather fluttered down into her lap. She picked it up and held it between her thumb and forefinger. In naira folk law it was told that a bird the colour of a starless night would visit when something evil was to applier and it would carry away all the souls that died in battle.

"I am not a coward" Eruanna spat, throwing the silken thing over the edge of the rock and digging her nails into her wrist in an attempt to distract herself from the sounds overhead then the owner of the feather landed within a foot away from her. She shuffled backwards and pressed herself against the sharp rocks. "Get away from me.”

The bird looked at her with eyes that screamed: you cannot escape me; we are the same.

"No. We can never be alike" she spat, wrapping her arms tightly round her legs. The animal crowed again and she could feel her mind shutting down.

"No. I am not afraid of what I did" she sobbed as the bird fluttered onto her lap. It cawed louder and its companions joined in. All emotion slipped away and she felt no pain as she drew blood. She only saw the black creatures swarming up into the air then a darkness of the mind calmed her.

* * *

She stood in a meadow with a small lamb beside her. Her mother had given her it to care for and the small creature followed her round on its tiny legs wherever she went. She ran through the grass, trailing her small fingers over the flowers and the little sheep skipped after her. She stopped at the side of a small stream to watch the trout skim the surface of the water for flies and saw her father's reflection on the opposite bank. Upon his shoulder sat a crow.

"Papa… Look what mama gave me" she giggled as the lamb bleated and bounded over to her. She cuddled it and her father smiled grimly. He held out his hand and she waded across the stream.

The lamb bleated, trapped on the other side. Her father raised his arm and the crow descended upon the wailing animal to rip it apart in its beak. There lay innocence dead upon the soaked grass and there was childhood seeping into the earth. The crow stared up at her from the bones of what incorruptibility should have been. She looked up at her father but he was not there.

"You will always follow me my daughter" the crow squawked fluttering away leaving the tattered remains of blind youth in its wake.

**  
**  


She awoke cold and shaken. It was late in the day and she could see the fort bustling with activity. There were no black devils haunting her only the cold reality of her vision. She mustered up her strength and turned her body to a small bird before sailing down on the breeze. as her body became human once more she grinned as men trained all around her, readying themselves for war. This was what she was used to.

"You look like you're in your element" Legolas said and she sauntered past ordering nearby soldiers to pick up the pace. She jumped and turned around walking backwards so she could take in all that was going on.

"This is more like it!” She exclaimed snatching an apple from a nearby basket and biting into it.

"We might need that" the elf pointed out as she threw it over the wall.

"Nonsense. Today is an excellent day to die upon and it is pointless letting anyone think otherwise" she scolded.

"Where have you been all morning, I began to think you had left us?" he asked.

"I went for a climb and was attacked by some overly friendly crows" she answered cheerily. The elf took her by the hand to stop her tripping down some steps.

"Are you ok? You didn't have another attack and bang your head… what happened to your wrists?" he asked in a tirade of questions.

"I'm fine Legolas" she lied, kissing his cheek and hurrying away. “I just fell and cut myself… please don’t worry about me.”

As the daylight faded tensions began to rise. People began to say goodbye to one another as the night grew darker. She stood well away from the fighting and the goodbyes, longing for home or some sense of normality in her life.

"Well. I could be back at home. I could be a princess, an heir to the throne of Termoree but my inheritance has become to me like a lion in the forest; she has roared against me; therefore I have come to hate her. Is my inheritance like a speckled bird of prey to me? Are the birds of prey against her on every side? I think so" she contemplated as she watched the young daughters kiss their fathers for what would be the last time, "Yet I cannot deny the alluring power it has."

Aragorn startled her by storming out of the armoury; his eyes filled with anger. She started to follow until he drew his blade and turned to threaten her as he retreated.

"Aragorn?" she called after him.

"Stay away from me Eruanna. I don't want your cold words" Aragorn snapped. She felt a sting of hurt but pushed it away, deciding it was better to speak when harsh words were out of calmer mouths. Instead, she slipped into the armoury where it was far too quiet after Aragorn’s departure.

Legolas sat fiddling with his arrows while gimli struggled with chain mail, Eruanna scooped up a thick piece of leather and began to wrestle with the armour until she caught the amused smile on the elf’s lips.

"Legolas… Will you help me with this armour" she asked, reluctantly admitting defeat. He nodded and began strapping her into it, sneaking a few kisses on her neck when she looked away.

"I fear we will not last the night" the elf muttered suddenly, Eruanna frowned and turned to face him, holding up her arms so he could tighten the leather.

"If that is true then all we have ever dreamed would have been for nothing" she answered, accepting a small peck on her cheek.

"What do you dream about mellemin?”

"I dream of a life beyond war, where there is no horror and death, I dream of a life where I am accepted for who I am and not what I am..." she said quietly, glancing over at the dwarf to make sure he was not eavesdropping. Gimli was occupied with choosing some chainmail so hadn't even noticed her presence, if he had he was keeping very quiet about it.

"Then we had both better live till the end of this war" Legolas murmured, pulling her into a long kiss

"What do you dream of Legolas" she asked after a few moments, feeling the blush in her cheeks redden as his hands moved down her back and the disapproving glances of some of the men reached her gaze.

"You" he whispered in her ear before going back to buckling up the armour.

"I was being serious" she laughed.

"So was I" he informed her, kissing her gently. She fidgeted uncomfortably as someone grumbled to their friend and legolas pulled her closer. “Don’t listen to them, I’ll bet the only love they have had is the barrels of ale that they get in the tavern.There. I see a smile on your pretty lips and you are not so grim now" he told her lightly kissing her cheek.

"We will not die tonight, we have survived this far because of our friendships and faith in one another and it should not fail us now. After all, love is supposed to triumph over hatred" She said as he finished fitting her into the heavy metal.

"I did not believe in Aragorn's judgment earlier and I offended him" the elf sighed, caressing her cheek as she helped tie on some form of shoulder protection.

"Men are too easily offended but perhaps it would be wise apologise?"

"Something you are good at Eruanna" he answered sarcastically. She glowered at him and he smiled gently, "You know I love you and I mean it in the best possible way" he said, kissing her briefly before going in search of the man.

Gimli was leaning on his axe as she turned around. Bollocks, I’ve been caught. as she began to explain the dwarf cut her off, a soft laugh and reassurance that he did not mind.

"Promise me something lass" Gimli asked. "Promise me you won't break his heart."

"Promise me something Gimli. Don't ever ask me to make a promise that I may not keep…I promise I do not intend to break his heart but it is likely that I will. He knows the risks that come with loving me, bit I promise I will love him for all eternity no matter what happens" she replied, smiling weakly at him as the candles flickered and went out for an instant.

"Then that is a promise I will accept" remarked the dwarf. She picked up her weapons from the bench and went out into the night, breathing in the cold of the air. Please let my promise be true.

**  
**  


* * *

As the dream faded, she chased it, forlornly as a child does when a parent disappears in a crowd and they cannot see which way to go. The dream of a life in Termoree was ending. They were all going to die. Three hundred men, one elf, one dwarf and a naira, were not enough to fight an army of ten thousand. All optimism had faded from Eruanna's heart. Eternal optimism was for the children below their feet in the caves. High on the battlements she stared out into the night. The small twinkle of torches would be seen in the distance.

"Oh what I would give for a dragon to ride upon like my kin of old" she muttered. The torches approached and the men made ready for war, then there was a sound that no orc would ever make. It was pure and clear. It was a welcome sound. Through the gates marched a good number of elves. She watched with interest at the wonder on the men's faces. She scrutinised the leaders face and knew it to be a close friend. Down the strains she flew until the host was but a breath away. Her companions had beaten her too it and where expressing all manner of gratitude.

"We have fought alongside men before but never the race of the Naira. It is more than an honour to fight with you mellonin" Haldir told her.

"I return that feeling with all my heart. I began to feel we were alone" she confessed, placing her hand on her heart in respect.

"They will be here soon, it seems we must change our plans" Théoden said softly. It was growing dark and the air smelt like rain.

"Then we had better start now" Aragorn answered leading the way up to the hall.

"I never expected you to come here" Eruanna told Haldir as they hurried their way to the keep.

"Where else would I be?" he asked curiously.

"I had a dream and you were no longer here for you had sailed and gone across the sea" she answered.

"What else happened in this dream?"

"There was fire across the lands and so much darkness and sorrow. My people were fighting alongside everyone else but we were losing. I saw our enemy and on his hand there was a ring. I saw middle earth fall and the evil spread across the sea to my homelands and valanor" she said calmly.

"This does not trouble you?" the elf asked.

"No. I was already dead and gone, I saw myself visit the grave of my father and from it a raven the size of an eagle rose and it ripped me to pieces, then I saw its wings cover the world in darkness and ruin before it too died"

"What does that mean?" Haldir inquired.

"I don't know. The future can change based on the choices of all. I believe it means if my head rules my heart for eternity then I will be conquered by me fears, though I do not know why I should trust my heart.”

"Your heart is a strange thing to trust Eruanna" Haldir laughed.

"Yet I have trusted it little and I have suffered for it."

"You never told me who your heart belonged to" the marchwarden started, eyeing the ranks of elves who had followed him with curiosity.

"Use your eyes and you will see past all the deceit, I shall not tell you."

"I never did like riddles" muttered the elf before following her into the small room where the  arguing had already begun

* * *

They stood up on the battlements weapons at the ready. The tramp of boots in the distance delivered the verdict that it was about to begin.

"You could have picked a better spot" Gimli grumbled. She heard Legolas snort with amusement but she saw no humour in the oncoming army. How many fire bolts can I shoot before it became too much and sacrifices were needed? One? Two? Three… maybe four? How many spells and incantations were there to defend my friends and myself. What would be the cost of it all? She felt a hand slip into hers and squeeze it tightly.

"You have nothing to fear. Your skills in combat are to be desired by many" Legolas murmured.

"It is not my skill with a blade I am contemplating" she answered, turning her eyes back to the lights like the eyes of a cold ghost.

"If her skills are to be desired I bet she cannot beat me in combat, nor will you for that matter" grunted the dwarf to Legolas.

"Oh. You bet do you dwarf. If we both make it through the night and Legolas and I have less kills than you, I shall grant a chest of gold that even my king will desire" Eruanna retorted.

"Then it is settled. Let the best dwarf win" Gimli chortled turning back to the oncoming storm. How many blows will it take to cut through the armour? How long can we keep them out the fort? Five? Six? Seven…eight hours? The cold wrath grew closer. Legolas released her hand and drew an arrow to his bow along with the other archers. She raised her hand watching the burning blue flame spiral down her arm.

"Hold" Aragorn ordered. "What's happening out there" Gimli asked.

"Would you like me to describe it to you…or would you like me to find you a box" Legolas answered. She grinned at the dwarf.

"It seems I am not the only one to taunt you about your height now Gimli" she chuckled, wiping the sweat off her face. The flame on her arm died out and she forced it to rekindle.

"That's cheating" Gimli exclaimed.

"Is not" she argued, “It’s merely initiative.” The orcs stood before them in a number too large to even contemplate. An arrow from one of the men's bows flew through the air. The battle had begun.

"Fire!" The flame poured down her hand and seared the charging orcs nearest turning them to ash. The corpses set alight others but the flames would not last. Arrows wailed past as she gritted her teeth and forced more flame this time up both arms. A nearby ladder went up in a large explosion. She smirked gleefully and began to shoot more flames at the oncoming enemy forgetting the cost for a moment.

"Ladders!"

She drew her sword. Flame shot down the blade and it sank through the tough iron of the first orc.

"Twenty-one" she muttered, hearing the dwarf bellowing out his new score. Orcs came running across the battlements and her blade met theirs with a fierce ire. She kicked the nearest orc to the ground and an elf drove his blade through the creature before in turn ending up on the knife of an orc. Quickly she back flipped onto the edge of the wall and checked the drop. It was a long way to fall; she shoved her knife into another orc who was attempting to climb a ladder as she decided what to do.

"Didn't anyone tell you it's rude to interrupt" she said before pushing the creature off the wall. She was no use on a battlement where her magic would only harm a few. It was a risk she was willing to take. Her body ripped and changed and she flew out over the wall. Diving down on a rock before changing back. "Enfie" she commanded and the earth shook, great roots seizing unsuspecting orcs and dragging them into the earth.

* * *

Legolas searched for her desperately on the battlements but there was no sign of her. His bow whirled round and shot another orc as he fought his way across the battlements. The ground shook and he almost fell backwards with the sudden force of it. He looked over the edge and saw the earth ripping open and a small portion of the army disappear before it closed up.

Eruanna stood upon a raised rock fighting with all her strength but she would not hold them off forever. He shot at one who had made it to the top of the rock just as another earthquake shook the ground. This time water rose up and drowned the side of the fort washing away the ladders. The dwarf was fighting keenly on and Aragorn too. Suddenly there was a movement below. A flash of light in the darkness. A bolt of fire hit the cheering crowds but the running orc did not stop.

"Legolas. Shoot him down" Aragorn commanded. He snapped his attention away from the Naira and concentrated on the running torch. His arrows hit both times and he thought the creature dead until the wall nearby blew open. The rock where she had been, swarmed with orcs and the momentary horror of the wall disintegrating was filled with a sickening punch in his stomach. Smoke suddenly spiralled around him as an arrow flew past his ear and stopped in front of him before setting alight. The smoke cleared and she stood ablaze and filled with fury. The ground blackening beneath her feet as her eyes glowed gold from the magic she was using.

"Behind you" he shouted to her before wheeling round to shoot another orc. She threw a dagger into the skull of the creature and leaped further away slicing off the head of the nearest orc as she went. Legolas slid across the blood soaked rampart, calling to her.

A hand seized his shoulder and pulled him round. Soft lips pressed momentarily against his. He pulled her instinctively closer, as he heard her murmur I love you.

“Eruanna, Legolas, now isn’t really the best time!” Haldir bellowed, shooting on an oncoming orc.

“Silence pointy ears. We are all going to die, I’m just making the most of the beautiful night, the birds are singing, the stars are out, there is not a cloud in the sky!” Eruanna retorted, decapitating an orc with a quick swipe of her knife.  Legolas released her, whirling round to attack yet more uruks. She was gone when her turned back, Haldir by his side, grinning.

“She always this fun?”

“Only when she has something to kill” Legolas answered, shooting an orc climbing up the wall as the rain poured on.

* * *

He lay in the water as orcs tramped over him, Aragorn called to him from above and he staggered to his feet as the man threw himself upon the orcs. Together they fought before he was forced to retreat up the steps. More arrows. Then Legolas came skating down the steps and he dived once more out of the way.

Bloody arrows! Gimi  rolled over to see a flame shoot past his nose and scorch his beard. "MIND THE BEARD" he bellowed, launching himself at more of the orcs. "Mark my word that naira will pay.”

Despite his anger towards Eruanna for scorching his beard, she was having difficulty holding herself up. Where is the blasted elf? Hurriedly he fought his way to her, fending off orcs she missed with the flames, her blade arm, swiping wildly as she stumbled. What’s going on?  Eruanna grunted before sinking her teeth into an orc. With appalled fascination, Gimli watched her drain the beasts blood and her energy return. Eruanna smiled grimly and lunged at and orc behind him. That one was mine!

**  
**  


* * *

Everything had been alright until the wall had exploded. They had successfully held the orcs from breaking the gates but now they were falling back to the keep. Haldir was above fighting tirelessly to aid them. Eruanna sored around in the air riding upon smoke diving at any orc who came to close, her magic was failing  her steadily and her sword broken, she was resorting to daggers just to stay alive.

"Fall back" he ordered the elf and the order was echoed across the army. He saw Gimli being dragged by to elves one of them Legolas but it was the orc bringing his blade down on the marchwarden that he fought to get to. The elf collapsed in his arms and lay still, warm blood soaking into the ragged fabric of Aragorn’s tunc. He felt his anger boil and he thrust his blade wildly into the nearest orc running at others who dared to climb the wall. The battle was not yet over.

* * *

Branimir screeched in from the rain soaked cliffs out of no where. His fire rained down around her and she cheered in delight as the creature lit up the wall with the purple flame. Orcs fell back in alarm before trying to shoot him down and she swooped low, attacking any who got too close to the dragon.

From up above she saw Haldir fall but there was nothing she could do save scream his name in avail. She was trapped outside the barricades along with the dead and she watched helplessly as her friends retreated inside, unaware hr her plight. fighting on, she felt herself tiring and she clambered up to higher ground as Branimir swept in, his claw sinking into her tunic and rescuing her from the jaws of the oncoming masses.

Above the doors to the keeps Eruanna fought, there were less orcs and the dragon at her side was like a viper, none got close enough to cause any damage. Suddenly the doors to the keep burst open and riders flew out. She dived upon the orcs shooting all that she had left in her upon them. Today was indeed a good day to die. Then more riders appeared upon the horizon, a horn was blown and the sun began to rise.

"FOR THÉODEN!” the horses charged down the hill, light reflecting of black armour and becoming almost blinding. She sat up, shoving off corpses and grinned with relief. At the front was Gandalf upon the white stallion shadowfax and the hope of all was renewed. She landed calmly on the wall before scanning the scenery for her friends.

"They must be in the fortress" Eruanna thought, running along the wall in search of her fallen friend, she stumbled over a body of an Elf. She stopped a sick feeling in her stomach, she crouched shakily she reached out her hand and rested it on the elf's shoulder before pulling him over so his face was visible. "Haldir, why, no, this should not have happened, I saw your future, you where to valanor not die here" Eruanna whispered.

"Please don't be dead" she said, testing his pulse, there was a faint flicker under her fingers he would not last much longer. Eruanna felt a tear run down her cheek and viciously wiped it away.

"A naira doesn't cry" she told herself. She knew what to do, it could cost her life but she would try it anyway, he did not deserve this but she did. She rested her hand on Haldir's chest.

"Mandos will hate me but you shall not go to him, he shall not have you, you will not die today" she whispered. Then she began to chant "alamathe alamanthe, demanthae mandos narachen firhbadlen." Quickly she sliced her palm and rested her hand on his chest again letting the blood seep into his armour, repeating the chant over and over.

For what seemed like infinity, Eruanna sat chanting, her nose began a violent stream of blood and then from Haldir's lips came a gasp. A desperate need for breath. Eruanna removed her hand from her friend's chest.

"Told you, you wouldn't leave me" she whispered. Two men came towards her. "Help, I need help" Eruanna called. The men hurried over. " My friend he needs to be attended to, please take him inside bathe his wounds" Eruanna said, grinning in spite of herself.

"But my lady, captain Haldir is dead" the man said sadly.

"No" Eruanna replied. One of the men bent and felt Haldir's pulse.

"She's right, he's alive!"

The other man looked surprised "but lord Aragorn was with him when he died" he informed his comrade.

The other shook his head "he is alive now" he answered, surveying her suspiciously. "You should go get your wounds dressed too, my lady.”

"I have no…" Eruanna began,stopping as she remembered the self inflicted cuts.

The man raised an eyebrow and she sighed irritably before tearing off a strip of cloth to bind it. It was not worth the hassle so she saw Haldir carried inside, sat beside him and waited. It was Aragorn who barged into the small room where they tended to Haldir first.

"It cannot be true" he demanded before seeing her sitting by the makeshift bed, bathing the elf's forehead. “This is dark sorcery..."You brought him back?" he asked. She nodded once and turned back to bandaging the wounds.  Hiding her face under her loose hair as a small wave of pain hit her, dark magic was nothing to be fooled around with but it was needed in that instance.

"He wasn't fully dead when I found him" she informed the man. Never before had he looked grateful towards her.

"I thank you for sparing me this grief" he told her. Eruanna forced a smile and sank into the chair beside the bed, feeling her head spin a little.

"I did it more for myself than anyone else." The man frowned at her. She smiled but did not answer the question that now plagued his brow. Both the dwarf and elf burst in next.

"We here you have been resurrecting the dead missy" Gimli chortled.

"Not the dead. The nearly dead perhaps" she sighed. A soft groan game from Haldir's lips and she turned back to him. His eyes blinked open woozily and he let out a grunt of pain as he tried to sit up. "

Lie still" she ordered and the elf reluctantly lay back down.

"You look tired Eruanna. I will take over for now" Aragorn told her. She got to her feet and handed him the damp cloth.

"He must not be allowed to sit up for another few hours" she instructed. The man nodded and she left Haldir in his care.

"You are not hurt?" she stopped and smiled at her betrothed's concerned tone.

"Why should I be?" she asked. He came over to her and cupped her chin in his hand. "

You just used rare and powerful magic and you did it without any damage, it doesn't seem likely."

"One life saved on a battlefield when hundreds of other die will do very little to damage the balance of this earth" she told him.

"It is not the balance of this earth I am concerned about" he sighed cradling her in his arms.

"Well… I am a little tired and I have a horrific headache" she whispered.

"Oh... well then I’m sure I can do something to rid one of those things" he murmured happily in her ear. Pain suddenly seared through her body and she let out cry of anguish and sank to the floor. She saw the courtroom of the palace and her brother standing in the center laughing and joking with a woman. The woman's face suddenly went cold and a silver dagger drove itself into Devae's gut. Guards dragged the woman away but the white marble was turning red as the courtiers gathered round the limp body of her brother. Overhead a small falcon sang merrily, a small squire attached a note to the messenger bird and it fluttered out the window and headed south to Rohan.

* * *

What's happened to Eruanna's brother? Tell me what you think :)

Translations:

mellonin- my friend

mellemim- my love

Enfie- Earth

**alamathe alamanthe, demanthae mandos narachen firhbadlen- my god my god, to mandos i forbid him go.**


	26. The Fallen Tower

A falcon arrived late the next evening baring the news of the death of prince Devae. From his sister's lips no sound came, no scream or wail of grief. She sank to her knees and stared at the parchment with a look that showed little of her emotions other than disbelief. He held her; rocking her, trying to fill the empty space his death had filled with kind words and sympathy but it was doing very little. She had not uttered a word since the bird had appeared and he could not tell whether she was relieved or not that her brother was gone. She had sunk into herself and was not coming back.

His friends studied him at a distance, talking in low voices as Gandalf told them of his plans. He caught her name a few times and she stirred in his arms at the recognition of it. The wizard walked calmly over.

"It is time to move on" he told them and she snapped out of the emotionless state she had drifted.

"It is almost dawn" she muttered, blinking away the tears that had suddenly sprung up in her eyes.

"You don't have to be strong" Legolas told her but she shook her head and told him:

"If I am not strong then what have I left."

The wizard seemed reluctant to let her travel with them and something was upon the tip of his tongue.

"I'm sorry for your loss" Théoden told her. She smiled at the king then but it was the closest she came to thanking him. The wizard finally spoke up.

"You have never told us much about your family have you…Eris."

"That name is poison" she snarled, whirling round to face the wizard, all grief suddenly gone from her face.

"Yet it is an alias of yours. I was not idle" answered the sorcerer.

"Aren't you a clever soul" she muttered darkly, "but you've got this all muddled up, my name has never been Eris."

"Eris and you were once one person, I checked the birth records of your city, there is no mention of a birth of a girl named Eris,only forgery's of a person later on signed with your name" Gandalf said thoughtfully. Many of the men in the room stepped backwards drawing their swords. Legend stated that in a time of war, a child no older than ten by the name of Eris, butchered and slaughtered whole towns of men. Her name had become famed throughout the land. Her skill and lack of mercy had become feared but then, she faded into nothing as though mists had swallowed her up.

"This is beyond you're comprehension old man, keep digging and you will find something much worse than what you think you have found, and nothing anyone will ever understand" Eruanna snapped, her anger and shame driving her from the hall and away down the stone passages of the fort, feeling a familiar blackness claiming at her; attempting to pull her back to desire and an old ally.

The wizard sighed and turned to leave, he looked somewhat pleased with himself. His comrades were less certain. Despite the legends and tales told to them, they considered ‘Eris’ trustworthy.

"We can't leave her. She belongs with us" the dwarf argued, folding his arms across his puffed up chest.

"She lied about who she was. You do not know of the foul acts she has committed" the wizard answered, "I had my suspicions when Devae arrived in Edoras. Records in their vaults suggest that there was a third child that died during their birth; a girl named Eris, one which Eruanna revived, brought back to life and trained" the wizard explained.

"That is no excuse to ignore all she has done in our company..." Legolas argued. Aragorn was remaining silent. He watched but said nothing to interfere, wondering and deliberation over a thought.

"Aragorn. Tell them what you know" the wizard commanded with an almost gleeful grin as the ranger looked away.  _Did he know something?_

"Eris is a name that is feared still through Harad, in Mordor and in Morgoth’s heart himself. From what knowledge I have she lead armies of naira to slaughter the innocent many years ago. This army was ruthless in every way. It is because of Eris, the naira can never go home to their own lands, they became to uncontrollable and the land they were to protect was threatened more by her should she return," Aragorn explained. "But I have also heard that Eruanna lead her own armies to face Eris... and defeated her, banishing her from this world."

"Eruanna is not Eris" Legolas retorted angrily when Gandalf scoffed at Aragorn's hurriedly added statement. The dwarf gave him a sympathetic glance and Legolas groaned in frustration. 

"We shan't leave her here laddie" he assured him. He knew in his heart that it was true but he cared not for her past, whatever crimes she had committed, saving Haldir, protecting the company, it was enough to prove she wanted to make things right.

* * *

She screamed in anger and her fist smashed into an empty barrel sending shards of wood in all directions. Her past would not have come back to haunt her if Gandalf had not brought up that cursed name. The room set alight as she screamed again, feeling the whispers of another person lick at her thoughts. The wizard had not done the research he had needed, for if he had he would have seen that Eris was nothing more than a treacherous soldier whom she had trained. Despite this, she hadn't had the fight left to argue with the old fool so she had let him continue his ramblings and now it had led her to trouble.  _They don't know everything, they don't know about Eris's creation, after all, she was a figment of your darker imagination till you brought her into existence._

"You are Eris?"

The voice made her jump and she turned to see Legolas frowning at her, holding a jug of water and attempting half hardheartedly to quench a few flames.

 

"Have I been in love with a monster dressed up as a hero?"

She looked away ashamed. "I have always been a monster, but I have also only ever been Eruanna, despite what my birth records show, despite what my signature on a piece of paper states," she muttered.

"What do you mean?" he replied, a frown forming across his brow.

"In my youth, i loved the thrill and danger of the dark arts...but i was also lonely, I invented an imaginary friend to keep me company based on what I thought my dead sister would be like, using dark magic one night I accidentally brought this  _friend_ to life, only in doing so, a large part of the evil hidden in my soul was brought forward and passed into this creation and everything evil I was capable of doing became a person of its own, without any other emotion such as love to stop it" she explained, taking his hand in hers, he flinched away. "You wanted to know who i was, who you'd be marrying. I am the monster of all folk tales and I won't pretend not to be... but unlike Eris, I am capable of sorrow and guilt, I can pity those who I might harm."

"I don't know who you are" he answered, his face a picture of betrayal, he looked to the floor as if the stones could answer him.

"All this confusion because your people gave me a name I preferred" she sighed, taking up his hand again he did not move away this time, instead he looked thoughtful. "Your people named me Eruanna upon my birth and that is the name my mother used. My brother kept the name given by my people and I do not speak of mine to those who I do not love... I was born, Dikiri, Daughter of Amaranth. I do not expect you to understand why I became Eris but i want you trust me... 

"I like the name Dikiri" he said thoughtfully interrupting her, "And I do trust you... I just don't like you hiding from me."

"I would rather you didn't call me it" she sighed, ignoring the last remark.

"Very well, I prefer Eruanna anyway" Legolas chuckled, "Come now, we have a journey ahead of us."

**  
**

There was a lack of trust through the company towards her throughout the journey to fangorn but she knew she deserved every ounce of it. No one spoke because they did not know what they were to face. They set out across fangorn, tracing the paths and scars left by the orcs. It was true she had lied to everyone about her past.

Eris had been according to the stories a great leader, a fierce warrior who was fearless and unbeatable in battle. She was also cruel and did not care who she killed and she killed for sport. Her loyalty to her father had been undivided and she would have defended him to the last breath she took and would have killed anyone who tried to harm her family. From stories many had called her beautiful and courted her but she would not let them near. Eris had been a charade put on by a frightened young woman with her life planned out for her. Eris had been two different people who got trapped in their own webs.

"Are you ok?" Gimli asked her from behind Legolas.

"I'm fine Gimli" she answered, she put on her false smile to reassure him, in truth, she was still fuming about the wizard banishing the dragon while her back was turned.

"You have just lost your brother" Aragorn interjected. Those words where a blow to the chest and she closed her eyes to force them out of her mind.

"I traded his life for a friend's. If my plan had worked as it should it would have been me not him but there are still plans for me" she muttered.

"You did what?" Legolas asked, his tone suddenly becoming shrill.

"It is of no matter. To fix the balance of the world one life must be traded for another. I had hoped that because Haldir had not yet died that requirement would be a few days of sickness but it was not to be. As she said this she felt like she was betraying her brother. He had died because she could not stand to lose another friend. Now she would live with the loss of another sibling.

"See your hand built ships burn away

Fire cleft the skies like dragon flame

See a friend of Eru sail away

Look into the mist, look into the sky

Now it's win or lose, it's live or die

See a friend of Eru praise the skies

As winter past the flaming sky

Our strength will carry us to heights

See the raven fly far away

The skies were so dark, the

winds were so cold

Our banners will rise in rage we will go

See a friend of Eru sail away

Stand in front of your destiny

Stand in front of your life

The sun sets forever the gods set me free

I'll share with you eternity

You can open your eyes

The land of Termoree

The land of the free

The journey is far to desolate seas

A learning in life, wait you will see

And let the stars guide you home

A black dawn is fading in whispering tunes

See the edge of the world,

the shades of the moon

See a friend of Eru praise the sky

We sail across the seas

The winds will take us home

A distant summer breeze

Will calm the storm

As thunder breaks the sky

The air fills our sails

Our dragon ships will fly

Over the oceans that wail

To our beloved home.

Our home Termoree"

Eruanna sang softly, it was the only song she could sing with some tune and it alarmed her everyone else was so quiet, so she sang to herself to fill the empty void of inside her heart that was usually occupied by other people laughter. To those who had heard the tales about the wood they had every right to be afraid but Eruanna knew altogether too well that fangorn was not to be feared unless your blood was warm.

The horse's hooves made a comforting sound as the song had moments earlier, it reminded her of Rivendell, where horses hooves were common songs. There was a faint amount of light in the distance,

"That must be the way out" Eomer said suddenly and spurred on his horse. Reluctantly she followed glancing in the direction of her city. She could visit her brother's grave but there was little point. She hoped the hobbits they had set out to retrieved had not been harmed. It would not do to hear about their pain or suffering so soon after a battle but they would have to wait and find out when they arrived at the tower.

"Welcome, my lords to Isengard" a familiar voice said interrupting her stream of thought.

There were many smiles and much delighted laughter. Eruanna allowed herself a brief, fleeting smile, and then her face fell back to its usual, grim, expressionless self. How anyone could love her face was a mystery to her. She glanced uneasily round, they were far too close to her people's territory, something that could have them all burnt to a crisp in the next second if they were seen. Not that any one of her people would mean it, not really. Eruanna shook her head; if naira had a fault that stood out amongst the others it was their possessive, protectiveness of any tiny thing that was their own. Including their large forest and fortress.

"Could we possibly leave now, we came and we have seen, I don't want to spoil the day but the war is not yet won and we would all like to live that long" Eruanna muttered, more to herself than to anyone else.

"No, Eruanna, we still have work here to do" Gandalf replied coldly, he still bared the grudge against her for literally getting away with murder more heavily than the rest. Eruanna glared at him angrily, flicking her braided hair over her shoulder. "There is a wizard to deal with, locked in his tower" he said, ignoring the glare that was in his direction and rode out towards the tower, which rose out of the ground like a hand seeking to destroy all in its path.

Once below the tower, the company halted. Eruanna looked around, trying not to breathe in the stench of orc then threatened to strangle her. Ents moved around them tirelessly,

"Young master Gandalf, I knew you would come" a voice said from nearby. Eruanna cocked her head on one side; she knew that voice well enough to guess it name.

"Treebeard!" Gandalf replied in acknowledgement to Treebeard's greeting. She glanced at the end suspicion clinging to her like cobwebs; it seemed two hobbits where capable of stirring an entire forest and convincing the Ents to fight when all her kin had failed at it.

"You have lived through many wars and slain many men, Théoden king, and made peace afterwards, can we not have peace as we once did?" A cold, sneering voice echoed round the ruined walls. Eruanna snarled as bile rose in her throat. Her lips curling back over her now-extended fangs. Legolas reached over and touched her arm gently.

"Easy, we need him alive" he whispered, she stopped snarling but still dug her nails into the leather saddle. This wizard was venom not easily drawn from a wound.

The old king argued his case well, but like all men, failed to notice the joy in his enemies eyes as he poured out his pain onto the earth. High above, like some lord overshadowing them, the once great wizard stood, leaning on a staff as black as his heart.

The wizard on the top of the tower smirked as he caugh sight of her eyes, cold and unyealging watching him from the horse she had been lent. "You have come a long way to die, Termoreean" Saruman sneered, “You do not belong here, why fight a war that is not your bussness? What bargin have they given you?” Eruanna's hand curled tightly round the hilt of her sword. Nudging the horse forward, she

"All wars are my bussness but that does not mean it is me who will die," Eruanna replied coldly, flashing a small dagger in the bright morning air.

"Who are you to say where I might die, naira. I will have you torn limb from limb-" Eruanna smiled sweetly up at him "Careful old man. Only one of us is free and armed with wits" Eruanna snapped back. “You know who I am. Your master has told you my true name, I am Eris, I am the once crown princess who leas the armies of Sauron into battle."

Thte wizard frowned, "So easily you cast aside your past and how easily you confess your crimes. Did you enjoy watching them die? Every last child of your house because of the war you started?" Saruman asked.

"I enjoyed watching my father weep like a child and beg forgiveness but I shall never give it. You had better be wary wizard there is a kingdom of my kin on your doorstep, I will give you one bit of advice: do not attack them… they are ready for you. They are ready for this war and many others and we will have blood before the year is through if you should harm even one of us."

He looked at her scornfully before continuing; "and what do you want Gandalf Greyhame, the keys of orthanc or maybe the keys of Bar-dur itself, along with the crowns of the seven kings, and the rods of the five wizards!"

“Your treachery has already cost many lives, many more are now at risk but you could save them Saruman, you are deep in the enemy's council tell us what you know."

"So you have come here for information, I have some for you," as Saruman spoke this he raised his arm, in his hand was a sphere that radiated light, a palantir. Eruanna held her breath, her eyes focused on the globe as the wizard smirked.

"Something festers in the heart of middle earth, something you have failed to see, but the great eye has seen it; even now he presses his advantage, his attack will come swift, you're all going to die. But you know this don't you Gandalf; you cannot think that this Ranger will ever sit upon the throne of Gondor, this exile crept from the shadows will never be crowned king, Gandalf does not hesitate to sacrifice the ones closest to him, those he professes to love ,tell me what words of counsel did you give the Halfling before you sent him to his doom" Saruman looked pleased with this new gloat and Gandalf looked down regretfully,

"The path you have set him on can only lead to death" Saruman finished.

I've heard enough, shoot him, stick an arrow in his gob" Gimli said to Legolas, Legolas began to reach for his arrow, Eruanna shook her head in disgust as Gandalf advised the other wizard to stand down, informing him they would spare his life. Eruanna snorted thinking that is the wizard came down she would personally shoot him in both eyes.

"Save your pity and your mercy, I have no use for it" Saruman yelled back at him, and aiming his staff at Gandalf let a bolt of flame, fly from the end.

Eruanna drew her sword, and prepared to set it alight, but there was no need.

"Saruman your staff is broken" Gandalf said coolly. Saruman's staff shattered around him.

"Huh" Eruanna muttered, watching Grima creep up behind his master. He looked even worse than the last time she'd seen him, his face was as white as snow, the dull grey eyes seemed black, as if all hope had gone out of them, his clothes where torn, his hair was patchy and dripping with grease, she could see almost every bone in his face.

"Grima" Théoden called up to him "you need not follow him, you were once a man of rohan, come down." She stared at him in disbelief; this was the man who betrayed his people. He should be burned upon a stake, not welcomed home.

"A man of rohan, what is the house of rohan, but a thatched barn, where brigands drink in the reek and rats roll on the floor with the dogs, victory does not belong to you, Théoden horse master, you are a lesser son of greater sires" Saruman retorted.

Eruanna yelled back, mostly out of caged fury, "nor you Saruman, for where are your army's, I can't see them. It must have been Théoden's victory, your army is dead and laid to waste."

Théoden looked gratefully at her, then said softly to Grima, "Grima come down, be free of him" Grima turned to leave, his eyes resembling almost joy.

"Free, he will never be free" throwing Grima to the ground. Eruanna saw Grima fumbling for something, and raised her palm to fire a bolt of flame; Legolas glanced at her and readied his bow as well.

Gandalf repeated his earlier question, "you are deep in the enemy's council, tell us what you know" Saruman replied you withdraw you guard, and I will tell you where you doom will be decided, I will not be held prisoner here"

On these words, Grima staggered over to the wizard, Eruanna raised her palm higher to take aim, The man raised his arm and drove a dagger deep into Saruman's back, over and over. Legolas released his arrow; Eruanna's blast froze and died out, Legolas's arrow embedded itself in the man's chest. The man staggered backwards, sinking to his knees; Saruman fell forwards over the edge of the tower and landed on a spike of a wooden wheel, which shot through his chest. Eruanna hence, the hobbits gasped in horror, it was a nasty way to go, even for a coward and traitor.

"Send word to all our ally's, and to every corner of middle earth that still stands free, the enemy moves against us, we need to know where he will strike" Gandalf ordered. Pippin slid down from behind Aragorn and waded over to the wheel in which Saruman's body was impaled, bending down he picked up the palantir that had slid from the dead wizards sleeve. He picked it up, it glowed softly the light growing stronger.

"I'll take that Peregrin Took, quickly now" Gandalf, said riding over. Eruanna frowned, the palantir was whispering softly, calling to everyone that could hear. Shuddering Eruanna turned her horse around and trotted over to the wall wreckage, the others followed, quietly, lost in their thoughts. Dismounting her horse Eruanna scrambled over the wall and walked to the edge of the forest, once in the shade of the tree's, she sat leaning against the cool bark of one of the larger ones. Closing her eyes, Eruanna tried to forget the scent of blood in the air, the silence that came before a battle, the feeling of complete hopelessness that she tried so hard not to show. The memories of her brother.

There was a soft rustle of grass before she felt a temperate presence beside her. "Are you alright, A'maelamin?" Legolas's soft voice whispered in her ear.

"I'm fine, just tired" Eruanna sighed, opening her eyes to look at him, he was sitting closely to her, his deep blue eyes, filled with concern. Eruanna had to smile, his face was smudged with blood and dirt and the worry only added to the comical look.

"What?" Legolas asked. "I've never seen an elf covered in so much grime, even Glorfindel can't get so filthy and he tires."

Legolas smiled "ah, well Glorfindel is not from mirkwood, and the Rivendell lot cannot stand dirt."

Eruanna laughed, "that is probably true, they would always trying to get me to bathe after training before even being let into the dining hall" she laughed again.

Legolas smiled "you should laugh more often, it is a wonderful sound" and with that he lent in and kissed her. Eruanna slipped her arms round his neck, letting the world melt away. Legolas pulled away, smiling he stroked her cheek, "They looked surprised perhaps i was not clear enough" he murmured.

Eruanna felt her stomach twist; she'd forgotten that they weren't alone. Eruanna felt her face going red, quickly she stood and slipped into the trees, the word was out, there was no going back. They knew. They would think her weak. Unable to defend herself.

"Bugger" she whispered as she walked further into the wood. She should not feel so ashamed at her affections for Legolas but she could not feel as if it went against everything her people stood for. Her father had told her from the day she arrived in mirkwood 'elves and naira should not mix, we are nothing alike and never will be' but she knew it to be a reason she loved him. He was nothing like her.

After some time Eruanna stopped walking, she heard voices calling her.

"If they want me they can come find me" she muttered. The shouts where getting closer, Eruanna no longer felt angry, she felt foolish, why had she stormed off like that? A rustle in the branches told her she was not alone; unsheathing her dagger she climbed the tree and came face to face with round frightened eyes, the eyes of a child.

Eruanna let out a sigh of relief, "please don't hurt me, please" the boy whispered, his think translucent face full of hunger staring at her in panic.

Eruanna rolled her eyes"and why would I do that" she asked.

The child frowned "because I left the fort without permission, after lady Eruanna left and her brother was seriously hurt, it has been the law that no one must leave the fort without permission… and you are a noble and I am just a farmer. I should not be in the same street as you let alone above you." he said.

She felt like she had been punched in the stomach, "what is your name, child."

"Calanon, what's yours" Calanon asked.

"Eruanna" she replied, smiling at the big round eyes broadening even further. "Why did you leave the fort?"

"Because I was hungry, there is no food, mama was sent off to fight in the wars and papa was killed by orcs."

"I'm sorry, I did not know" Eruanna said, reaching to the bag she kept at her waist, she pulled out some lembas and handed it to him.

"What it is" Calanon said inspecting the bread with distaste. "Lembas, it's elvish, eat, then get back home" Eruanna said, suddenly conscious of the shouts for her.

"You're the one they are all searching for. Your brother is very sick" he told her soberly.

"My brother is dead" she snapped.

The child shook his head. "In a stupor that's what my sister says and she tends to him at night." The shouts grew louder and louder, she felt an absurd rush of relief through her body at the news of her brother's survival.

"Can I come with you?" Calanon asked "I have nowhere else to go." Climbing down the tree trunk like a panther.

"Calanon, as much as I would like to help you, where I'm going, I probably won't be coming back" Calanon's face fell and tears welled up in his eyes and he gazed up at her the tears dripping down his wet cheeks. "Shhh, you'll be ok."

Calanon nodded "yes my lady.”

“It will be okay" she murmured, wiping away his tears on her sleeve.

"When I grow up" the child interjected her fussing, "I will be just like you."

**  
"No child. You will be what nature decides you to be." She answered. Then through the trees burst a small hobbit followed by another, she glanced over her shoulder but the youngster had gone. On the wind she heard Calanon whisper goodbye. The hobbits yelled to the others and the came hurrying over. She paid no attention to their worried questions and they gave up asking after some time. The only thought on her mind was that her brother had lived. There could yet be hope for middle earth.**


	27. Revelations in the Dark

Blackness seethed into the gardens in which Eruanna was standing, she was alone, the only living thing in middle earth, the earth was churned up, bloodied from the once seemingly endless war. There were no stars to see, nor a moon, nor a sun. The stone fortress was a wreck, a pile of rubble. The once green trees of fangorn were burnt to the ground, Eruanna watched her breath float in the cool air, was it day or night? She knew not, she knew what she could see, fangorn's fortress had fallen, stiffly Eruanna moved one foot in front of the other, the wind whispering in chilled tones.

You murderer, you monster, you traitor, you did this.She shook her head in disbelief.

"I wouldn't do this, I would never do this" she cried. She saw a child slumped by the garden wall, a spear digging deeply into his chest, the wall was sprayed with crimson around where the boy lay. Eruanna walked over to fascinated, her words echoed in her ears from earlier that day: "fight for glory, fight for you freedom, fight to the last child and never give in."

The child's face lay squashed into the mud, the orc's had trampled its wretched body to try to escape, slowly Eruanna bent and pushed the child onto its back, shock hit her like a knife to the stomach.

"Calanon" she breathed; "what have I done"

Backing away from the body of Calanon, Eruanna saw the banners of men flying in the wind, there were less than there had been, a lot less. Aragorn and Gimli sat at the front but no Legolas. She ran forward, praying that all was well. Aragorn dismounted, walked up to her, sorrow liquefied in his eyes.

"My lady, Prince Legolas is dead, the quest has failed." Eruanna sank to her knees, the wound from earlier that day she knew no longer, there was only a pain in her chest worse than any she had experienced before, it burned angrily and relentlessly, taking her breath from her and squeezing her lungs tightly, it felt as though her soul was being torn from her. She screamed into the darkness the earth-shaking as her rage boiled over. Everything she had loved was gone, there was no point in life left, and yet she could not die, first Lord Elrond and her friends in Rivendell, then her friends in fangorn, her people, and now her soul mate, all cruelly stolen from her, the war was lost and she no longer cared.

Her eyes snapped open and focused on the stars above; Her skin was cold and sheen of sweat covered it in thin beads. The soft breathing of the others in the camp lulled her heightened scenes and her labored breathing seemed more noticeable in the quietness on night. She sat up looking round at the body's strewn across the soft grass. She stood shakily, tomorrow they would be back at Edroas. Eomer who was on guard did not even glance at her. She smiled fondly at the elf as he lay resting on his back watching the stars in his dreams.

"I will not be gone long" she promised herself, stepping over the smiling Pippin whose dreams were filled with many simple pleasures. It was only a short distance to a stream near where they had stopped to rest for the night. She sat at the edge of it and scrubbed the grime from her face and hands. The stench of man clung to her and it was mingled with other smells that where far more unpleasant though it made her throat burn and her desire for blood clawed at her innards all the same. After she was clean she gazed up at the faded stars.

"Where are you little hobbit? Are you still alive?" she whispered, "Do you see the stars I see or are they veiled and clouded?" Frodo had troubled her for some time, he had Sam to guide and comfort him but the world they were entering was not one that they were used to. She heard no answer on the wind and disappointment stirred in her heart. She regretted not making an effort to befriend the halfling or give him counsel when he had looked like he needed it most. She had been too aware of the difference between her and the others and had tried to distance herself. Ironically it was them who wanted to distance themselves now. She had the trust of Legolas and the two hobbits but even the dwarf was cautious of her though he was kinder than Aragorn had ever tried to be. Her mother had once taught her to read the stars and she saw many constellations now, they mirrored that of the sky's above her lands and the longing that had dwindled for the shores of Termoree was reborn again in that moment.

"I will fight even if I am alone in this world because it is all I will ever know" Eruanna swore. She felt drained of feeling, dreams were not like others for her kind, they were to be feared because the reflected the evil within. Her companions had begun to teach her how to care for the petty things but their absence however far away they really were stripped her of them. Only a few years ago she had depended upon drink to fill the missing feelings within her, now it was the raw emotions within others that filled her with joy. Her heart so scarred by war she had never thought it would heal was slowly mending. Yet still her night's were filled with endless torment of the past and her days reflected others expectations of what she should be like.

"I condemn your hopes for me father for I have someone who has hopes for both of us and will not mold me in his reputation but let me shape myself" she muttered into the water which reflected only her face. The image rippled suddenly and portrayed a field with a dark crow upon a broken throne.

"This is our dynasty daughter" the wind hissed. She shuddered. Never had there been a time when she had desired the throne except for the respect and adoration of others it would bring. Those desires too were now gone and she longed for adventure and a life of freedom and adventure was her wish.

"Hurry little hobbit, to the fires I pray you will go." Sudden despair consumed her and for the first time since her mother's death she wept openly.

* * *

Aragorn was woken by Eomer and the man informed he that Eruanna had wandered off looking distressed. Concerned for his companions welfare he followed the direction Eomer had seen her go. She was not far away and he crept closer drawing his sword. She sat on the bank of a stream and for the first time he saw a side of her that stirred pity in his heart. She looked so broken and filled with anguish.

The proud and strong woman wept up to the stars alone. He watched her draw her blood from her arms and the tears stopped falling. He lowered the blade and a movement in a tree caught his eye. He crawled over to the base of the bark and glanced up into the green leaves to see cool blue staring down at him. The elf pressed his fingers to his lips and turned his gaze back to the naira. She sat calmly watching the water and tracing the stars along its cool mirrored surface. Aragorn studied his friend in the branches, elves could hide their emotions well but Legolas was showing clear signs of heartache as he watched her cut open her arms. He seemed uncertain of what to do. Aragorn reached up to a nearest branch and climbed up beside him. He placed his hand on the elf's shoulder and his friend closed his eyes to hide the pain. Eruanna stood, tearing a piece of her tunic to bandage her arms and headed back in the direction of the camp.

"How long have you been here" Aragorn whispered.

"As long as she has" Legolas answered. He sat next to the elf wanting to ask him more but it was not the time.

"I don't know what to do Aragorn. She's suffering but will not admit it. I love her but I do not want to watch her destroy herself."

"She needs you to be understanding, I will try to make it easier on her but I do not trust her nor do I admire her in any way" Aragorn replied. He saw the faint smile flicker across the fair face.

"What does Gandalf say of Frodo's progress"

"He believes that Frodo is still undiscovered" Aragorn informed him. Legolas nodded and swung gracefully out of the tree and he followed calmly. Eruanna lay curled up in her own arms, the elf lay down beside her in the dawn and held her close. He remembered Arwen and a pang of longing to have her with him. Seeing them contented made him remember what he could lose and he turned away to find something to hunt.

* * *

The Naira felt his arms encircle her and huddled closer to him. He kissed her forehead murmuring soothingly to her. The tears threatened to slip from her eyes again and he pulled her closer and she tried to hold them back. A soft whimper escaped her and he kissed her again. Tears escaped her eyes and he hushed her as she sobbed into his tunic silently. He had seen her at the steam and he made no attempt to berate her. It angered her more than his deceit in following her.

"It's okay my love, I'm here, nothing can harm you" he murmured, settling her into his grasp.

"I had another dream" she confessed. His muscles tensed and he smoothed her hair in an attempt to console her.

"You died, the world burned. I have never been so afraid."

"I will never leave you, you know that" he muttered, kissing her cheek.

"You must think I am weak that I cannot control my fears" she sighed.

"No, you are strong and this is not your fault" Legolas snapped. She jumped and he kissed her apologetically.

"Yet I cannot look a crow in the eye without remembering things that I would rather forget and those memories drive me mad" she argued. The elf said nothing but kissed her again. "Love alone will not make this go away" she chided.

"No, but it makes you smile a little" Legolas murmured.

"I don't know what to do. I am fortunate that it has not happened when I am fighting. I could be killed." The elf froze, his eyes filled with distress at the idea.

"Then we shall try to find out why you are so afraid" he answered. She nodded but said nothing more on the matter. The world was becoming so conflicted and with it her vision clouded. The army had been so simple. You did not make friends, you took orders and asked no questions. Every day the same. That was what she had clung to, what she had now, she had yet to discover.

 


	28. Bravery Is A Kinder Word For Stupidity

After three days riding they reached Edoras once again. As the king was welcomed openly by cheers and jubilation it was announced there was to be a feast in tribute of all those who had died at helms deep. Gimli cheered up immediately, Eruanna would have declined her invitation but she welcomed the idea, it seemed too good to ignore such an offer of unlimited food and drink. It was proving to be a superb evening despite her friends robbing her of her ale at several intervals. There was laughter and light in the hall of such she had not seen since she was a very young child yet for all its deception, it seemed there was one who was only making a half-hearted attempt to join in.

"I was never one for celebrations ether. Forgive me, we haven’t been fully introduced, I'm…"

"Eruanna… I know. My uncle was saying you fought bravely earlier" Eowyn answered not meeting her gaze.

"Bravery is just another word for stupidity" she answered, her eyes settling on the dwarf drinking himself senseless in a new contest he had declared.

"Then you think my desire to be valiant a foolish thing?" the maid asked.

"I think you wish for recognition and not to be forgotten, in that way, we aren't dissimilar. This is a world run by men for men and those who are born of the weaker sex must be meek and mild or they should be scorned." She told the woman coolly.

"I want to fight, to have a chance of valour, but the only way it seems possible, is to be a man" Eowyn continued. Eruanna rolled up her sleeve to reveal the scars that were still healing.

"You think that you could carry the scars of honour and sacrifice, there is no valour in watching your friends hacked to pieces. There is no valour in what comes after in the nightmares that haunt you. There is nothing honourable in being torn limb from limb and beaten to death by an orc, Eowyn. There is very little truth in stories told of battle if there was, no one would be brave enough to fight" Eruanna chided.

"Yet I that way we are different. War chose you Eruanna, you did not choose it and you suited it ill until you knew nothing else, I saw it in the way you killed that warg." Eowyn answered coldly.

"My father fashioned me a warrior. I was born of high and noble blood; it is the only path we can lead. Had I been born a lowly servant I could have become a healer or a cook whom I dreamed of becoming as a child but I had the misfortune of being born a princess and i-"

"Misfortune Eruanna? Many would count it a blessing to be born to a king" Eowyn interrupted.

"I have had my whole life mapped out for me. It is battle after battle with no sight of happiness. It was a king who gave me life and in doing so has robbed me of it" she answered. The shieldmaiden examined her with some interest. There was a sudden loud crashed Gimli slipped off the bench and both of them jumped.

"Your friend might need your assistance" Eowyn giggled, indicating that there was no more conversation to be had. Eruanna left the celebrations and went out to watch the stars.

"Have you come to check on me, I would have thought you would have sent Legolas to do that" she asked the man standing in the shadows.

"I came to see if you wanted something to drink after your heated debate with lady Eowyn" Aragorn answered handing a flagon of dark ale to her.

"This doesn't seem like you Aragorn" she muttered sipping the bitter drink.

"Did anyone ever teach you to say thank you?" the man snapped back before looking rueful. "No, I usually got everything I wanted without asking for it." The man sniffed with a small amount of amusement.

"Legolas has been kind enough to enlighten me of all your misdeeds together" he informed her.

"I'm sure he has" she muttered. They stood awkward silence as she downed he ale and gazed woefully the empty bottom.

"What is the real reason you are here Eruanna? If you wanted ensure the rings destruction you would have followed Frodo. What can you possibly gain from staying with us?" the man asked suddenly. Startled she glanced at him to see the dark eyes boring into hers.

"It's okay that you do not like me. I do not like your kind as I have made clear from when we first met though I consider you a slight exception to that rule. I only wish to prove myself trustworthy, to give my people some form of dignity in lending what help I can" she answered cautiously, “And I have had the misfortune to fall in love.”

"You are here for no other reason than Legolas," he answered sceptically. What was she to say, that she enjoyed the emotional fulfilment others brought her? That she was growing to enjoy the company the others brought her? That had she gone with Frodo it was likely she would have killed him for the ring?

"I beg of you now, if you do not love him as you should, give him up." The man continued.

"I will not give him up" she retorted angrily, "to ask me that would be for me to ask you to forget Arwen and love another in her place, it is a stupid and unbearable thought and I wish never to hear it again."

"Do not bring her into this" Aragorn bit back.

"My thoughts and dreams are full of dark things Aragorn, I could easily kill someone and not think twice about it but I have someone who would look on me and feel the shame I should feel. It is selfish and I should lie. I should tell him I do not love him and make him choose his own kind. I should do it but he is the only thing that keeps me from falling into total disarray because he is the only thing I love in this world. I tried to turn away once, I left mirkwood but it caused my heart to shatter; now he is picking up the pieces that I cannot sew together. I follow you now because I see someone who will be a good leader and I want to have some nobility restored by fighting at the side my friends, I want to be of some use where rest my kind will never be" she explained. Aragorn was silent for long time as he mulled over what she had said.

"You killed your father for the throne then did not take it; why?"

"My father after my mother died was angry and distraught. Of all his wives she was the one he loved the most, he grew greedy and selfish and he enjoyed watching others suffer as his heart suffered. I served as a faithful and loving daughter for many years as Eris until I grew to see that my mind had been poisoned lies but I still wanted power so I killed him, despite the knowledge that the power of the throne was just a conquest and nothing more. It was after I killed him I realised that I did not want a position above everybody else, I hated others bowing to me and the lack freedom it brought, I had my uncle crowned instead and I took up a position in the army to become a commander." She described doggedly. The man nodded and glanced over at the pitcher she still held. Waving her hand over it; it re-filled and she handed it to him before going back to the party.

**  
  
**

The little hobbits sung cheerily on a tabletop surrounded by guffawing men and tipsy women. Gimli had been tucked away in the corner and Legolas crouched in front of him his face a picture of self-satisfaction at his victory in the drinking game. Gandalf stood near the halflings clapping along merrily. It was the wizard she needed advice from but taking on a wizard who thought she her name was spelt trouble would be no easy task. She stepped up next to him and watched the cheery halflings for a few minutes allowing the maiar to adjust to her presence.

"How long have we got Gandalf? How long will it be before the enemy makes his first move?" she asked hurriedly.

"I can only guess it to be soon" the wizard said tactfully. "I need some advice" she sighed softly. She glimpsed a look close to amazement on the old face and her cheeks blushed pink.

"Am I wasting my time here? Should I just go back to my people and fight alongside them when the enemy turns on us?" she continued.

"What good would that do?" Gandalf asked.

"I belong in hell not here, I would not cause trouble for this company" she muttered. There was almost compassion on his face as he studied her.

"You are more use to us than you are to them, if your people decide to side with the enemy and there is talk of it, you will give us information on how we can defeat them besides I believe some of the others have become attached to you. Do not condemn yourself because of what you are Eruanna but on your actions in the present and past"

"The past terrifies me" she murmured glancing over to Legolas to ensure he was not listening.

"I will give you this advice. If you go to your people you will be met with cold indifference from those who love you here. If you stay you will be met with detestation from your people. You need to decide which you value more and soon" Gandalf advised. She nodded thoughtfully before going to help Legolas with Gimli.

"You are in no fit state to carry him." She warned Legolas as he tried to pull the dwarf to his feet.

"Why not?" Legolas retorted.

"I hear you have had another game with Eomer since I left, I think he would appreciate it if you did not drop him" she giggled.

"It was only a few extra ales" the elf argued, allowing her to help the drowsy Gimli to his feet.

"I wouldn't call fifteen a few extra" the naira complained.

"I am not drunk meleth" he said defensively. She shrugged and they successfully transpired Gimli to a small room near the hall to recover. He kept glancing at her as they walked in peace back to the hall.

"Why do you look at me so?" she blurted.

"Something is playing on your mind" he responded.

"No. Nothing is on my mind" she lied.

"Don't lie to me, you frown when you are troubled, now whatever upsets you so?" he asked pulling her into his warm embrace.

"Choices I have made and will have to make" she answered.

"You think too much mellemin and it does nothing for you." She glared up at him before settling back under his chin. He smiled and kissed her forehead before working his way down her face and claiming her lips.

"You are drunk" she grumbled.

"I am not" he retorted kissing her more tenderly.

"I know what drink smells like elf" she countered.

"Maybe a little" he confessed.

"Well, while you are under the powerful spell of ale why you don't come and help me change" she said, grinning wickedly.

"I'm not that drunk" Legolas told her shaking his head. She pouted at him with mock disappointment.

"When we are married meleth" he sighed.

"What will that be?" she asked hopefully.

"After this war has been won" he told her.

"What if we lose?" she muttered.

"That will never happen" he murmured.

"I fear I am becoming impatient, forgive me, my love" she sighed.

"My flame, patience was never your strong suit though you liked to think so" he chuckled.

"I don't want to wait; someone could turn up and steal you from me" she reasoned.

"No one will rob you of me I promise; I do not want to wait but it is not right that my family do not know of this choice or yours" he countered. She groaned in dismay and buried her head in his shoulder. His soft musical laugh filled the small corridor and he kissed her passionately over and over until she began to giggle too. "There, all your troubles are gone" he told her taking her and leading her back to the main hall.

She lay awake in the small chamber she had been given debating her choices. She was bound by blood to her kind but bound by love to her friends. Did she not love her kind too? Where they not her friends? If they did fight with the enemy then would she had the straight to betray every last one them? Could she watch mortal men massacre her own immortal race for the sake of a few she cared about? Could she stand being the last of her kind? She stared up at the cobwebs on the ceiling.

  
The rot of the wood that was spreading through the rafters. If she went with them, she would have her heart torn away from her and all emotion would cede to exist. If she stayed she would be shunned and cast out for good and she would slowly drown in pity gifted to her in pretty gestures from others. It was unlikely that her people would take sides at all but not impossible. What was the right choice?


	29. Elves Don't Threaten

Giggles filled the sheltered clearing as two children chased after a small butterfly. "Legolas look what I brought" the girl said suddenly remembering the book she had dragged to their secret glade. Little hands pawed the book open hungry for knowledge.

"This dusty old book was sitting there, just begging to be read, I thought you might like to look at the drawing, I can't read the long words yet though." Eruanna explained wriggling up close to her friend and lying on her belly to read the tattered pages.

"Ada never lets me look at things like this, he thinks I will get scared" Legolas breathed running his fingers over a gold embossed picture of an animal with a human head and an eagle's body.

"Papa likes me to read them, he thinks it's good for me to understand what I could fight" she answered happily swinging her legs behind her. She saw him bite his lip and frowned,

"What's the matter?" she asked nudging him playfully.

"My brother says you will go to battle and forget me" he mumbled. She turned the page and heard the soft gasp from her friend and smiled at her small triumph of distracting him from her fate.

"You will go though, you said so yourself" the elf pestered.

"I won't forget you" she huffed, flicking over the page and concentrating hard on the words. The little elf lay very still gazing contentedly as the picture flicked past and she began to feel lulled by the calm of the forest. All of a sudden the forest was alight and burning the two children ran back and forth trying to evade the flames but eventually they were consumed by them.

* * *

She awoke with a start, she up slowly and the cold of the chamber hit her forcefully in the chest; the room was dark lit only by a candle by her bed. She was shaking uncontrollably and her hair was damp with sweat. She stood shakily and went over to the basin, and splashed the icy water on her face. Her dream came back to her in a rush, it had been so real.

‘It is what will happen if you go to fangorn instead of Gondor and your people go with you to the black gate and poor Eruanna will be alone" hissed the voice of Eris.

"Why would that matter, I am alone" she whispered, frowning, but Eris was silent once more. Her next thought was to go outside and cool her nerves; she dressed quickly, pulled on her mantle, and slipped out the door.

The night air was so cold ice could have formed in the air around her. As she walked she felt a sense of dread in the solder's, as if they knew this night could be their last, they had returned to Edoras early in the evening of yesterday but now celebrations had died down and the night was as still as stone. Eruanna considered sneaking into Legolas's room and curling up next to him but at this time of night, he would be out watching the stars or talking to a horse down in the stables but after that dream, she knew she needed him to listen and hear what she was thinking of doing. Silently she slipped down to the stables, the horses were sleeping soundly. Their equine body's nestled in the hay. Eruanna breathed in the smell it was one she had grown up with, and gave her some comfort. Scanning the stable Eruanna saw that Legolas wasn't there. She sat on a nearby hay bale running her nails over her scalp to force herself to concentrate, the ale she had drank the night before had been stronger than her estimate and was not playing games in her innards. When it didn't work she left and trudged back up the hill.

**  
  
**

When she eventually found him he was gazing at the stars intently. His hood pulled over his head. Quietly she crept up behind him and slipped her arms round his waist.

"It's a long way home now mellonin" she whispered.

"I'm worried for my family, they will be fighting for their lives' in mirkwood yet we are here, waiting, it's all we ever do." He replied.

"Waiting is a good choice to have; we know what to expect if we wait, we can choose our path better with time but I fear that time is against us." Legolas was silent for a while, when he spoke he spoke haltingly, not wanting to speak his mind.

"Why are you not asleep, it is not like you to be awake near dawn?"

She sighed, "I had a bad dream, I could not sleep" she removed her arms from round his waist, "I'm scared. For the first time in my life I'm scared because I don't know what to do, I feel as if the whole of my race depends on me but I'm scared I'll make a mistake, I feel so alone and I can't help feeling like we are dangling on the end of a fishing line, like bait, waiting for a miracle to happen."

Legolas took her hands gently in his and kissed them, "You're not alone, it is not wrong to be afraid, maybe your people need you but it's your choice to help them, though I think we need your help more."

Eruanna forced a smile and looked out at the sky, "When I was little my mother told me stars were the eyes of the dead, watching over us. I think it must be true, I think my mother knew this day would come and in her own way was telling me that even now she trusts me" Eruanna whispered.

Legolas smiled, "perhaps that is true, that the dead often comfort the living at night, perhaps that why the night can be so calming."

"You would say that wood elf" she muttered darkly wrapping herself up in his warmth.

"Ay meleth, you are frozen" he gasped undoing his cloak and wrapping it around her. "I'm fine, it is just the night that turns my skin cold" she mumbled as he clasped her tightly into his chest.

"You are not sick?" he asked, his soft eyes filled with worry.

"No, I feel fine" she lied burrowing herself into his cloak; he did not understand sickness as she did and it would not do to frighten him unless it became serious. In truth she was cold; she felt as though she would retch at any moment and the cold was not helping much.

"There is more you wanted to tell me meleth" Legolas stated after a few moments.

"I have to make a choice Legolas and I do not want to decide. If my people join with our enemy I will have to either join them or help hinder them, I will have to choose between love and loyalty" she answered. She caught the flicker of grief pass over him but pretended to ignore it.

"I can't lose you" he said, tightening his grip.

"I haven't decided yet." He lent and kissed her fiercely before pulling away before she would have liked so as to leave her breathless.

"What will you do?" he asked timidly. She saw how young he really was in that look and it made her feel so small and childlike again. There was so much innocence in those eyes that begged her to stay, so much painful desperation of not knowing how to help.

"Please Legolas; stop looking at me like that" she whispered tearing her eyes away to stem the sudden tears building up.

"I don't want to lose you again" he answered, holding her to him possessively.

"I can't make that promise."

"Then promise me you will sail to valanor if we lose this war" he said. "I promise that i will sail" she sighed, it was a half truth, if she sailed, it would be to her home, not to a land filled with unnatural purity. Satisfied he loosened his grip on her waist and kissed her lightly.

"You are sweating, are you sure you are well?" he murmured. She nodded but did not meet his firm gaze. He looked relieved and let her go in time for her to double over and heave up the remains of the ale she had drunk the night before.

"Liar" he muttered as he held her hair out of her face, wrinkling his nose delicately as she retched up the second time.

"You always exaggerate the severity of illness elf, I did not want to alarm you" she groaned "I had far too much to drink last night that is all." He snorted disapprovingly at her but continued to rub her back gently as the tired to stop her head from spinning wildly. She scowled at him irritably before seeing the unease she was causing him.

"You don't have to stay meleth if you do not wish, it will not kill me; I feel better now".

He flinched at the words and pulled her into his arms kissing her forehead. "I am not convinced."

She did not argue, he had a canny way of winning most of their arguments and he had set his jaw in determination to win any that would follow his remark. Instead she let him drag her back to her chamber and bundle her into the clammy sheets before fetching a drink for her and sitting next to her bedside.

"What am I going to do with you?" he asked.

"Marry me" Eruanna giggled.

"Only if you decide to stay" he reminded her.

"I do believe I could call that a threat" she protested. She saw the wicked glimmer in his eyes as he lent back in his chair.

"Elves don't threaten" he challenged.

"No but naira do" she purred.

"Oh and what malevolent things are you planning?" he asked. She gave him a crafty smile before nestling back into the pillow.

"I'm still cold" she complained. "I'm sure I can fix that" he replied before curling up next to her.

"What are you thinking?" he questioned after a few minutes.

"I'm thinking that you smell delicious" she mumbled drowsily, "you are almost edible, what about you?" He kissed her shoulder and wrapped his arm around her midriff.

"I'm thinking that you actually like all this attention you vain creature" he answered.

"I am not vain" she snapped.

"Perhaps, but you are beautiful" he contended, "there now, you are smiling again and I think you are blushing too. Shall I tell you how I see you meleth, how beautiful you are in my eyes?"

"How do you see me?" she asked groggily. He began to kiss his was down her jaw languidly, "I see pale skin like silk moonlight on water, I see eyes brighter than any living gem and greener than any tree, perfect Ledaean features to melt the iciest of hearts and golden hair like sun upon the sea as sunrise. Others can call her plain and comparable to that of a mortal but I see her as the most perfect living thing, all stories of maidens whose beauty is incomparable seem so plain when I look at you, you blush and shake your fair head and say that I lie with such perfect tones but never have I been speaking so truthfully" he said softly.

"There is no one of such description, no one holds such perfection, my eyes are often red not green; my skin is not cream and is war torn and scarred. My body is not one of flawlessness. What looks I have are to disguise the dark rot within me" she argued, "if I asked anyone else to describe me they would call me ugly to look upon because of what I am inside." She heard an irritable sigh and he kissed her nape before whispering words she did not understand to her in his own tongue. It hushed her back into her woozy state.

"I will love you no matter what you are Eruanna, you are perfect to me besides you will not sway me" he murmured as slumber began slowly to claim her for itself.

* * *

In his heart he knew he would never fully convince her to see what he saw or anyone else for that matter. She lay sleeping beside him; her breath all but vanished from her body as it was the way her kin dozed. Others would not call her as she had said ugly but they would not call her perfection. At times her choices had been highly questionable though she had admitted to regret them later. He lay on the bed thinking about their future and all that could come about. His father would be appalled at his choice and would try to stop it whatever the cost. She was right that there was a possibility that they would not survive.

Legolas glanced over at her before climbing off the bed. He went to the small window and gazed out across the plain. He was not averse to disobeying his father and he knew that his father loathed the naira with more passion than any orc or goblin alive. The alliance had always been uneasy but it was better than war. It would be so easy to marry her in secret.

There were many ideas surrounding marriage that naira believed in, some claimed copulation was the only true way to be married like the elves did while others claimed a piece of paper and a blessing was all that was needed. While she shared many of his own kind's beliefs as a repercussion of growing up alongside his kind yet she had also many views that would be abhorred by many. He wanted his family's blessing more than anything though the more he thought about it the more impossible it seemed.

  
If she married him before the war was out she would not find it so easy to speak of leaving him. If they waited it might never occur because of differences in racial conflicts. For the time being he was willing to ignore the possibility that they may never get to marry and enjoy what stretch they had left despite his sudden questions and concerns about his choice in bride.


	30. The Plantir

It was the shouts from the next room that stirred Eruanna from slumber; cries of alarm and terror that's sent her staggering out into the adjoining chamber. When she reached it seemed the commotion was already over and Pippin lay sprawled out on the floor with the occupants of the room huddled round him. Gandalf stooped over the frail body and murmured incantations to waken him. The hobbit stirred and his head rolled away from the wizards gaze. The room was filled with harsh whispers and they came from under a robe. She glanced over to the others before going to inspect the robes contents.

"Don't touch it" Gandalf ordered without taking his eyes of pippin. Startled she pulled her hand away and glared at the offending item.

"What did you see" Gandalf pried. Pippin shook his head fearfully before answering;

"I saw a white tree in a courtyard of stone. It was dead"

"The white tree is that what you saw" demanded the wizard.

"I saw him. He asked me my name. I didn't answer, he saw me" the little hobbit continued.

"What did you tell him" Gandalf asked frantically. Pippin frowned at Gandalf in confusion, and shook his head.

"Call for the king and Eruanna try not to start a war while we are away" Gandalf snapped, sweeping out of the room in legendary style for a fifty thousand year old.

"I don't start wars" Eruanna called after him.

"I will believe that when I see it" Gimli laughed. Legolas kissed her cheek quickly and shrugged before following them out of the room. She glanced at the two hobbits grimly.

"I don't start wars" she repeated. Merry snorted and Pippin raised an eyebrow with mock sympathy.

"You could do, the way you insult the king at every opportunity" the older hobbit said at last. She sat down on the nearest mat and studied them.

"I, don’t start them, I usually end them. You however started a battle without my help well enough, I'm curious; how did you manage to get the Ents to fight?" she asked. The hobbits grinned at one another the pure portrait of mischief.

“It's a long story" Pippin said thoughtfully.

"I have eternity" she countered before smiling at them.

"Well… It began soon after the orcs kidnapped us" Pippin started.

“No it didn't, it began once we got into fangorn" Merry complained.

"I want to hear all that happened after we separated, please continue Pippin" she interrupted. She halfling beamed smugly at his cousin before continuing with his tale.

"As I was saying, after the orcs had captured us and I dropped my broach to help you find us the pack stopped for the night on the edge of fangorn." The hobbit looked over to Merry and obligingly the other hobbit took over.

"So they were all arguing about what to eat when Pippin thought he saw something in the woods, a pair of red eyes then several but I told him it was nonsense. The orcs began to fight between themselves then one was set upon by the others…." Merry paused in revulsion and she gave him, what she hoped was a sympathetic look, Pippin continued the story.

"I did see something in trees, anyway Eomer and his men attacked and we managed to escape. Several orcs escaped with us and chased us through the trees, a few of them vanished suddenly and there were red eyes all about."

Merry interjected "He's making the bit up about the eyes my lady but I think the orcs just got lost. Anyway we were fleeing from one of them when Pip climbed up a seemingly harmless tree"

"With no eyes in it" pippin interrupted.

"When I was grabbed by the orc and pushed to the ground" Merry overrode the younger hobbit.

"Only it wasn't a normal tree at all. It was Treebeard, he crushed the orc and swiped Merry up. After he met Gandalf in the forest however he decided to call a meeting" Pippin said.

"An entmoot?" she questioned.

"That's what it's called, so they spent ages deciding on what we were then even longer on deciding not to go to war. Then tree beard said he would drop us on the edge of the forest." Merry explained.

"Then I had an idea, if he saw what Saruman was doing to the forest I was sure he would not be very pleased and I was right. He called all the Ents together and they marched on Isengard. You then turned up and Saruman was killed" Pippin finished.

"Well you both tell an excellent tale" she laughed, "It seems for all my peoples cunning we were outsmarted by two hobbits, for as long as I can remember the Ents have refused to aid us in our battles and you made them go to war within a few days!" The hobbits grinned at one another and sat opposite.

"Will you tell us about Termoree?" Pippin asked hopefully.

"What would you like to know?" The two hobbits looked at one another for a long time before Merry answered

"Why did you have to leave?" She paused, running through every reason in her mind before selecting a few that would make partial sense to them.

"It starts a long time ago, the beginning of all things you could say. There was the creation of two lands, Middle earth and the surrounding lands and Termoree, which Eru filled with creatures of your myths. From those creatures we were created by a darker power; Melkor.” Eruanna began, looking across at the wide eyes of the halflings. “My people came before the elves and were kept hidden, along with the armies of our master. Only Eru heard of Melkor’s plans and granted my kin free will. We betrayed  Melkor, taking Termoree for our own.”

“Then what happened?” Pippin chirped, Eruanna smiled faintly.

“There is a price to everything in this world. Eru demanded we fight for him and we agreed, only after a few years we turned our backs and abandoned Middle Earth to the chaos we had caused. Eru forgave us, but Melkor could not, we were his children. He sent armies to destroy Termoree and in an effort to protect his children, my father had us sail to middle earth, where many of my kin remained from the wars in the past. We asked Eru for his help, but he refused. We are trapped here until we can prove ourselves worthy, or Melkor no longer exists.”

The hobbits sat looking thoughtful, "Was it beautiful, the lands surrounding where you lived?" Pippin inquired.

"It was paradise but the people living there were less harmonious, a land is not appreciated until it is lost, unless of your nature is to love the natural world, such as an elf does" she replied.

"Why does Gandalf not trust you? You seem a decent person if there is such a thing" Merry asked.

"Once I was a murderer. I killed my own father and many of my friends. I became solitary and distrustful of others with distrust comes an overwhelming ability not to care for others, he thinks I am still the killer I once was but you cannot fault him for it" she clarified, smiling weakly in an attempt to reassure them. They talked for a long time, trading stories of their homes before Aragorn came to retrieve them; they seemed reluctant to face Théoden so she agreed to come with them.

* * *

It would be long before anyone would see their homes again.Morning was already fading into afternoon, Eruanna watched all the men prepare for war, Pippin had seen the enemy's next move, he moved to strike Gondor and rohan was answering their call.

"My lady" a voice questioned. Eruanna glanced quickly to see Eowyn, lady of rohan, watching her, before the question could be asked; she an answer.

"Eowyn, you have a long life ahead of you, do not waste it in an act of foolish valour. Your time will come, be patient."

"I want to fight; surely women have the right to fight for what they believe in? Do you not believe that there was a reason that you were made a warrior?" Eowyn protested, Eruanna snorted, how could she know the true reason for her father's will?

"I was born to end the race of men, to butcher everyone who stood in my father's way. I cannot sleep at night for what I have done and what I have seen and if I do dream they are often filled with dark memories enough to make me want death," Eruanna snapped, “I am the wrong person to ask for aid.”

"I'm sorry, I did not know" Eowyn said, softly, her voice trembling. Pity stained her heart and she looked at the woman whose eyes were filled with determined tears.

"If you want my advice, stay here, be a woman not a man, it is not the place of mortals to fight wars" she said, " but if you must fight, keep central to the battle, it will be harder to spot you in the crowds… and dont fall over or you may as well be dead..."   Watching the woman who looked full of excitement she recalled the days were war had been a game, “War is not something anyone should witness… but it has its advantages.” Eruanna paused, a thought coming into her mind, one which seemed logical enough. The king of rohan wouldn't allow his neice to fight so his niece would have to become someone else.

"I think I know how to get past the king too" she said, toying with the idea in her mind.

"How?" Eowyn asked eagerly, her eyes gleaming with new light.

"Naturally you will all be wearing armour, but take the back of the charge when you set off, your uncle will ride at the front, when you get near Gondor move to the front, and stay hidden, do not take off your helmet and choose a different name" she deliberated.Eowyn thanked her for her council and hurried to make preparations. She watched as the gates opened and the first riders set out across the lands.

"She will be caught, you do realise" Legolas said, slipping out of the shadows. Eruanna smiled "Perhaps but not in time. Besides, we must give her credit, she has a heart to make a giant tremble. My father would have loved her."

The elf smiled, "did he not love you?" he asked.

"No, never loved, he used me, lied to me, told me that he did but my father told me many things, none of them true" Eruanna replied, feeling the pain of the truth again.

"He wanted a son, my twin brother was hopeless at combat from the start so he concentrated on my abilities, I was the replacement for one that died young, when my mother bore him another, I became dispensable" she muttered, her voice sounded far away, mournful.

"You are not dispensable; there are many here that love you, even if your father was as you say he was, you would have been loved by many others" he scolded, sliding his arms around her. "

Then they are fools" she challenged.

"Or they see something you cannot" he countered, kissing her neck.

Eruanna sighed, "Back when my father was alive, I was hated, loathed, I had no one" she said, biting back a small laugh as he tickled her neck in a very un-elvish manner.

"Uh huh" Legolas muttered between kisses. "Legolas, stop, you're being off-putting" Eruanna giggled.

"Good" he whispered into her ear, "you need to be distracted." Eruanna grinned, kissing him under his jaw.

"I love you, never forget that"

"Ditto" she muttered decidedly, he said nothing but wound his fingers into hers, “What is it?”

"I was thinking of what you said about us marrying" he began at finally. She glanced at him and he seemed sincere so she allowed him to continue. "It occurred to me that your people have so many traditions surrounding matrimony, I did not know which one you believed in most." He had the decency to blush as he admitted his lapse in memory.

"Your kind was determined for me to share the same beliefs, I don't think the past years I have spent with my own kind will change what they taught me" she told him. He let out a small relieved breath and the tips of his ears turned pink for shame.

"What are you planning?" she pestered.

"I was considering moving the date a little, I think the longer we leave it the harder it will be to decide when the right time is" he explained.

"Are you suggesting we marry in secret?" she gasped, it was unusual for him to do anything without his father's consent.

"Not entirely in secret, I wondered if Gandalf might give his blessing and our friends of course will be told however our families will be blind to it" he answered. "When exactly were you planning on warning me if I hadn't asked?"

**  
He blushed again, "I was hoping after a few drinks." She felt laughter bubbling up in her throat and she let it slip out over her tongue. After a few seconds he joined in before Aragorn bellowed up to them that they were leaving and that Gimli needed help getting on his horse. There was trouble in his eyes as they went to join the procession, all laughter dissipated and he went quite. War would shake even the strongest of wills and test even the strongest love; theirs was yet to be tested.**


	31. Life and Death

They arrived at the base camp midday some days later; the king's disappointment was evident. There were not going to be enough to defeat the armies that stormed towards Minas Tirith. They spent the rest of the afternoon wandering round the camp in companionable silence with Gimli occasionally remarking on the stone work that could be done on the cliff face if they 'only put more time into it.' The hobbit had joined forces with Eowyn in the past few hours and hadn't been seen again, Eruanna suspected he missed Pippin whom Gandalf had kidnapped to take with him to Gondor. As they passed a stone carving of a horse's head Gimli made a satisfied grunt that at least one of the carvings looked as it should.

"I have never seen anyone so passionate about rocks" Eruanna giggled as he began to tell the best way to carve stone.

"There are more to rocks than meets the eye" the dwarf cautioned.

"They have stories just as the trees do" Legolas agreed.

"I am fortunate in ignorance to have such enlightening friends" she grumbled. "

You enjoy the stories and songs that trees sing but you will not try and learn the earths songs, you are strange indeed my lady" Gimli answered.

"It is because I cannot hear the rocks speech Gimli, I am no dwarf nor am I an elf, my abilities are limited in the ways of nature; it is the night I am attuned to and the moon and all her stars have so many songs of their own to sing" she replied.

"Now let us say that here is one whose passion for the night outshines even the brightest star" Legolas laughed.

She smiled faintly "I can faintly hear that of the trees but I am afraid Gimli I am at a loss when the stones call to me, some of my kind can hear them and they make good stone smiths, others hear the calling of water and fashion wondrous monuments with its aid, but I have no such skills; I envy the tales and sorrows that time has sung and you can hear but I do not think I should trade it for the songs the moon sings." The dwarf smiled from behind his bristled beard and said nothing more. Legolas looked at her with curiosity brimming in his aura and looked to the stars.

"What are they singing tonight? I have heard many a tale of the memories of stars but I have dwelt in the forests for so long I hear stars voices when I strain my hearing but I only catch a few notes" he asked finally.

"They sing of many faces that have stood here and wondered up at the sky seeking answered that no one will ever know, they speak of friendship and happiness but also the great sadness that will follow. It is a lament I think to all who will join them in the skies to watch over the lands but they welcome them" she explained.

The dwarf looked puzzled for a long time as his friend gazed up into the night. "Would these stars happen to say anything about us?" he asked gruffly.

"They say that you are the best of you kin Gimli" she chuckled.

"You should not jest" Legolas exclaimed frowning at her.

"I do not jest meleth, they tell tales of what the future holds for your friendship and they are wonderful to hear." She murmured.

"My father told me that no good would come from looking to the stars for answers" Legolas complained.

"Yet they say your father looks to them often" she retorted. He frowned and looked back up to the cool light emanating from the small stars.

"I think he meant to say you should not believe all you hear from them, truth is not always their forte but they tell tales to quell the sorrows of a thousand widows so I shall listen if no one else will" she sighed. They went further before they saw Eowyn shooing the young hobbit to some unknown destination.

"There is one who would value the tales you stars tell" Gimli pointed out.

"I fear they will not be of any use to her soon" she replied sadly.

"It is a shame for one so young to be so unhappy" the elf mused.

"It will not last, she has a good heart and hope will find her yet" the dwarf countered.

"And if it does not?" Eruanna interrupted.

"Then she will be like you my miserable one" Legolas chuckled. She elbowed him in the ribs before the scent of stew drifted over to her, her stomach growled demandingly.

"Gimli my friend, I hope you are in for a spot of food thievery because I smell some delicious stew" she announced before chasing after the smell with her companions on her heels.

* * *

"If ever there was hope in the world, it has left us" Eruanna thought, listening to Aragorn and Elrond talking. It had been a few days since their arrival at dunharrow. If ever there had been a time for her to wish she was alone, it was now, once she had longed for friendship and love but now she longed for a solitary day to herself. The mountain that scared men, that terrified horses and made even the most courageous of elves and dwarves uneasy, called to her, beckoned her like nothing she could describe. She knew the legends.

They were altogether too true, people never returned from under the mountain. Never. The longing to enter the dark caverns scared her but made her excited at the same time. Looking round the camp she saw the faces of men, fearfully glancing up at the towering rock face. Shaking of the longing to explore the black secrets that it held, she went in search of her two companions to distract herself from her own emotions and to warn them of Aragorn's future escape route.

Legolas and Gimli were saddling up the horses when she found them. She needed no explanation, she knew the answer, she'd heard Aragorn's reply and she had not been the only one. She began to saddle her own horse up before the dwarf stepped in her way.

"You must stay Eruanna" Gimli said softly seeing Legolas pleading silently with her.

"I have to go, I can't explain, I know I am no use to rohan" Eruanna sighed pushing him out of the way.

"Eruanna, I couldn't bear it if something were to happen to you" Legolas said, taking her hand.

"Had it ever crossed your charming elven mind that we are going to die either way, I'd rather die at your side than with man who I have not known long enough to be able to pronounce his name. More to the point what about you? Gimli can't keep an eye on you and Aragorn, I'm coming weather you like it or not, you can't change my mind" Eruanna said, smiling at him.

“You're more persistent that a dwarf Eruanna, I'll give you that" Gimli chuckled, turning to the elf, "Legolas don't worry about her. Her kind is notoriously hard to be rid of."

She glanced at Legolas. "Promise me you'll stay near me," he whispered in her ear, "so I can keep you safe." Eruanna looked at him with surprise, "I'm not a child" she hissed, a little too fiercely so he narrowed his eyes. She forced a smile, he took it as her promise and allowed her to mount her horse. They found Aragorn slinking around the tents.

"Where'd you think you're off to" Gimli said smugly.

"Not this time Gimli, you stay here" Aragorn replied.

"Have you learned nothing of the stubbornness of dwarves? We're coming with you" Legolas said smiling. Aragorn glanced at Eruanna,

"You couldn't have stopped us if you tried" She said, grinning. Aragorn sighed, and climbed up onto his horse.

"We better hurry, it will soon be dawn" he said to them. Legolas lifted Gimli up and swung up after him before they headed out into the shadows of the mountain.

The silence of the mountain path was deafening. Cold breezes puffed upon Eruanna's ears sending shivers down her spine.

"This place seems so lost, as if the whole world has forgotten its existence, in all my long years, never have I seen a place so desolate but beautiful" Eruanna sighed.

"Well naira, it is desolate, maybe not a pretty place" Gimli muttered, he had been on edge since they had entered the shadow of the mountain and had little time to look around, he was too concerned with checking to see if they were being followed. Aragorn had been silent the whole way, lost in his thoughts. Eruanna had tried listening to those thoughts but said nothing of their contents. They were mainly of Arwen and the war. Some were his own troubles and fears and she hated the human emotion it brought with it.

"I am afraid to" Eruanna thought to herself, thinking of Boromir's question so long ago in the mines. She had answered that nothing frightened her, but yet many things did to some extent; human emotion and black birds being the two that stood out, she was afraid of other things, but she would never admit it even to herself. Her fear of losing all she held dear, that was the greatest fear of all. Eruanna shook off her thoughts.

"The war against evil will be won by good, it always is in the stories" Eruanna thought, but another voice in her head answered back, hissing in the cold logic she had grown up with.

“But the war in your lands was won by evil, its why you and your people are here in middle earth, this isn't some fairy tale where good wins and the princess wins the prince of her dreams and they all lived happily ever after, what makes you sure that evil will not prevail? What makes you think after this your life will be easier because you will be married?" the voice whispered.

"It will not be easier but it will be better and evil will not prevail" Eruanna muttered determinedly, spurring on her horse to catch up.

"Are you alright, you look nauseous" Legolas whispered. They had taken time to rest their horses and themselves. Eruanna was leaning up against a dead, dried out tree, Legolas crouching in front of her, his face full of apprehension.

"I'm fine, I'm just tired" Eruanna sighed. The voice in her mind was troubling her. What if Frodo never made it to Mordor? What if everyone she knew and loved was killed? There where now dark shapes circling the high cliff tops and she shifted uneasily before burying her face into her knees. The elf sat beside her, and wrapped an arm around her shoulder.

"Something is troubling you, I can tell" he sighed.

"It's everything and nothing, there are people everywhere but there aren't, Aragorn's thoughts are literally screaming in my ear and they are things I really don't want to know, my life could not be any better… there are also several ruddy great crows sitting up on that tree over there and I believe they think I will make an delightful meal" Eruanna answered ruefully, then rested her head on his shoulder.

She heard Legolas chuckle softly, "I sympathise with you, mellemin, your eyes are better than mine at least when you are afraid, I can see the dead too, but I cannot hear Aragorn's thoughts, I did not know you could hear others think" Legolas said softly, kissing her brow.

"I can hear thoughts when I wish and sometimes when I don't, it is magic I would love not to possess. As for the dead I would love to be rid of them, they are the biggest nuisance of the lot" Eruanna muttered, closing her eyes to enjoy Legolas's warm embrace and his sweet scent. He hummed softly to her as he had done when they were children and she had had a bad dream.

"Do you remember the day of my mother's funeral and you held my hand the whole way through because I was afraid I would be all alone" he asked.

"I recall it vaguely" she mumbled.

His hand slipped into hers,"Well, now I will hold yours until you feel less terrified" he whispered kissing the back of her hand. The largest of the crows swooped over them and she squeaked in alarm, he squeezed her hand gently before helping her to her feet.

"You remember all those nights you told the guards to go and do their job somewhere else and you came and curled up next to me before reading me a fairy tale" he asked. She nodded smiling at him, "You remember my favourite: the story about a brave princess who must go on an adventure to save the world only to rescue a prince and live in contentment for the rest of her days. I think you were telling our story." He murmured, kissing her gently.

"As I recall I butchered the princess in the final telling of that story and she barely escaped with her life after the great battle, I do not see how it was a happy ending, she was severely scarred for many years" she reminded him. She would have cuddled him until the end of time; listening to the soft lull of his voice but Gimli pulled them apart saying that they needed to get moving.

The companions rode in silence along the track that leads seemingly nowhere. The day and night merged together into bleak and cold grey. The mountains sides forever loomed above them, states the warned of evil. Eruanna had often spent her time in places darker than the shadow of this mountain, but something about the endless mist that followed was enough to chill her lifeless heart. If the cold did not kill one of them, something else would she was sure of it. Some great malice lurked in every shadow, waiting, watching.

"What army would linger in such a place" Gimli grumbled.

"One that is cursed" Legolas replied, he looked uneasy, she shivered looking round at the darkening cliffs.

“Cursed… It’s not even my birthday,” Eruanna quipped, rubbing her arms for warmth that was being stolen from her body.

There was no life save the black carrion birds that dived on them and spooked her and the horses. There was little wind and yet it was cold. Up ahead there lay a cave entrance so dark it seemed that the world had been swallowed up inside. A cool breeze blew out, followed swiftly by a gale. The horses took fright and fled.

"I guess we are alone then" she muttered, although her senses and instincts screamed at her to turn away and follow them. Aragorn faced the gaping mouth, sword drawn, "I do not fear death" he hissed through gritted teeth before being swallowed up into the blackness. Legolas took her hand, glancing at her reassuringly he lead the way, there was no need for it, death was a familiar thing to her, but she saw it was he who needed her comfort. Eruanna sensed Gimli lingering on the outside of the cave. She released her grip on Legolas's hand and went back into the light.

"Gimli, Come on, we must hurry, I fear we are not alone". The dwarf hopped from on foot to the other.

Finally he sighed, "Well this is a thing unheard of, an Elf will go underground but a dwarf dare not, I'd never hear the end of it" he muttered, before stepping into the black seething darkness. She smiled to herself in amusement before following him back into the tunnel.

Eruanna stuck close to Legolas, The darkness was choking and the tunnels smelt of rot. Being near the elf gave her some relief from the smell. She knew the mortals had legends about her race, about how the senses of her people were better than those of Elves, how her race could smell a drop of blood in valanor. Though highly exaggerated it was true but only true when she was afraid. Mortals feared her, she saw it every day, they would run in terror, though running from a naira was pointless and stupid, it just made it a fun game to her kind, like that of a cat playing with a mouse.Now however her senses seemed dull, the light of the torch blurry in the thin tunnels. She looked across to Aragorn, dark and resolute in his quest, all around smoke billowed, the soft crunch of bone underfoot echoing loudly round the howling casm.

 

The company burst out of the tunnels into a wide open space, rising up were steps and a gateway to the unknown. Eruanna held her breath as smoke hands clawed at her legs and chest, feeling the familiar tension build within her. She prepared to spring. Then a voice froze her heart and she looked upwards to the gate. Mist spiralled rapidly and she felt a rush of hot energy within her, a flame circle leaped up encircling the group and Eruanna sunk a little with the effort of maintaining it.

**  
"Who enters my domain?"**


	32. Contradicting Prophecy

We are no longer a dying breed. Success is in our grasp. Our champion is almost victorious and her humanity almost restored. We shall rule with our king and all shall kneel before us and fear us. We will outlast the end of time until blackness is all that is left. Our little servant so unwilling will be powerless to stop us. She thinks the destruction of the ring will send us home but she is more than wrong. Watch as her nightmare becomes reality and the birds that haunt her become her prison. You really though she had escaped her destiny oh you canny thing! Our victory is at hand and our lands are almost within our grasp again. We will have this land for our own as well or he shall kill her heart. She saved her family once but can she do it again? Will she really have the courage now her mask is all but gone?

On every side she saw ghosts. They reached out their dead hands to claw at them, their touch more cold than winter.

"I summon you to fulfil your  pledge" Aragorn demanded. What in Eru's good name was he doing? The ghouls began to laugh.

"No one but gondor's king may command me" spat their leader, Legolas shot an arrow at him but it went straight through the greenish mist. It raised its sword to strike Aragorn and she drew her own to defend him but there was no need. Metal clanged upon metal as sure as day chased away the nights. "That blade was broken" the ghost hissed. Aragorn grappled with him before gasping its throat.

"Fight for us or remain here for eternity" he spat. The ghosts laughed then began to fade. The man called after them in desperation with Gimli yelling dwarven insults into the air. The walls gave a loud crack. Eruanna turned her head to see the fort built into the rock began to crumble and the skulls of all who had died poured out.

"Run!" Gimli cried as the craniums swamped them. They scrambled over the growing mounds desperately trying to reach the exit. Panic rose up inside her as she tripped and was dragged under. To her amazement it was Aragorn who dragged her out. Once free they ran from the path doggedly and threw themselves at the small opening.

She saw the despair in her friend’s eyes as they staggered out of the tunnels dust spiralling out after them. The dead would not help the living. On the river sailed the ships of more men working for the master of evil. If hope had been lost before what had been robbed of them now? She turned back to the rock face, rage boiling over, screamin at the sealed entrance in something nearing desperation.

“Come out and fight, cravens, or are you so afraid even in death that you will cower in your tomb until the end of this world. Answer your king and stop cowering under your rocks like the filth you really are.” Eruanna scream

The was a sudden cold chill up her spine and she saw with amazement the gaunt, green figure of the ghost king.

"We fight!" the ghost informed Aragorn. Relief suppressed the anger that had bubbled under skin when the apparition had showed itself. The man bowed his head thankfully before his eyes rested on the ships.

"We have little time, there is a small shingle beach not far from here, and there we will board those ships."

"We might be too late" Eruanna muttered, Aragorn grabbed her forearm as she began to wander away.

"I hope for all our sakes we are not."

"I forgot to thank you for helping me earlier, thank you" she mumbled avoiding the steely gaze the mortal was forcing upon her. His grip loosened and he began to laugh.

"I accept your thanks, now we have a ship to catch!"

* * *

Boarding a ship had never been so easy, surrounded by ghosts the men aboard the vessels were easily overpowered and they dumped the bodies over the side. Eruanna scrambled up the mast into the tattered sails to watch the battle in the distance. Down below Aragorn discussed tactics for a few moments then set the ship about. Her nerves began to jumble around inside her as they drew nearer. The horsemen were losing badly after the invasion of oliphants and where trapped between two armies, high above a singular bird spiralled low, followed by the Nazgûl upon their winged steeds. She could hear the gearing catcalls of the orcs that waited for their boats crew members and she drew her sword before hiding behind the sail.

The boat hit the landing point and her companions leaped off, she swung off the rope holding the sail and landed on the shoulders of a nearby orc before slitting its throat. Gimli swung his axe onto the legs of the nearest orc and almost clipped hers. The dead swarmed across the plains, the battle was turning in their favour. She whooped in delight and fell upon another orc smashing his head across a rock before facing another two. Her companions has separated out and where battling groups of orcs furiously. Away in the sky the black crow circled lower. She froze mesmerised in watching it, fear clinging to her like a mist. An orc lunge at her and she knifed it through its belly, trying to ignore the cawing above her head. It dived low over her and she screamed, crouching low to the ground.

* * *

Legolas heard her scream and turned to look over in her direction. A dark bird swooped low above her head calling out over and over. He shot at it but it was too late. She was a high pitched wail came from her mouth and she rocked like an infant on the bloodstained ground. An orc lurched at her but somehow she threw him off ripping and clawing like a feral beast. He ran, shooting a path to try and get to her. She sat staring blankly at the gored face tears streaming down her face. She moaned looking down at her hands as another orc crept up behind. A dwarven axe embedded itself into its back and felled it just in time. She stood mutely and began to wander across the field her eyes transfixed on some unseen thing.

"Gimli, stay close to her" Legolas ordered, shooting at another orc. The dwarf nodded and battled his way through another onslaught of orcs. It was a small miracle that she had not yet been harmed. Leaping over the corpse of a dead oliphant he shot arrows in all directions. The battle was fast being won and most of the orcs were fleeing. He scanned the area for his friends and saw Aragorn grappling determinedly with a brutish man. Gimli was swinging his axes but he saw no sign of Eruanna.

* * *

This is not real, this is just fear. In front of her was a grave. Her name scrawled in spidery letters clearly visible upon it. A raven the size of a man hopped across the crumbling rock croaking at her. "Fight me" its eyes said. She lunged at it wresting it to the floor, its wings tore at her arms and its claws at her face. Her fists did little to stop the claws. She bled profusely and a small voice of her past told her that she was dreaming but it seemed so vivid and real she ignored it.

"You wouldn't harm your own father" the crow begged as she got a hold on its neck to snap it. She released it and crawled away on all fours, screams pouring from her mouth. An unseen blow knocked her spiralling and she awoke in a puddle of sticky blood, she rolled over to see a man raising his fist for the second time. She weakly kicked him in the groin and staggered to her feet, digging her nails into his gullet and choking him. Another blow met the back of her skull and sent her sprawling forward again. Again she staggered to her feet, hot liquid trickling down her neck and she let her fist fly into the face of the orc. It kicked her violently in the stomach and gripped her hair shaking her into a dizzy frenzy. She stamped on its foot and it loosened its grip before throwing her several feet. The orc ran at her, and its foot pounded at her body.

"I'm going to die" she thought as it dragged her into a kneeling position and caressed her blade down her cheek and under her chin. Defiantly she looked him straight in the eyes; she would not die a humiliating death. Preparing for the blood to pour out of her she clenched her jaw ignoring the pain from the new wound on her face it brought. The blow never came, her lifeblood ebbed from the small grazes but from no deep gash did it pour. Gimli had finally caught up with her and toppled the beast. She felt sick and bent over before vomiting up blood and spittle and the dwarf fended of the last few orcs.

The others ran over and Legolas pulled her into his arms and held her tightly.

"What was that?" Aragorn inquired and she hid her face in her lover's tunic shame washing over her.

"I think she's had enough Aragorn, she can explain later" Gimli sighed, wiping the blood off his axe on the grass. She tried to stand but her legs shook and she felt weak. The elf scooped her up, kissing her temple before carrying her away from the battle.

The battle was won but all of her courage felt so lost in the mist of her confused thoughts. She sat on the edge of a bed as her cuts were tended to mulling over the raven and its meaning.

"You could have been killed" she told herself, "you need help, it's getting worse and you thought it was going away." Her friends visited later and gave her some words of comfort but they felt empty and meaningless. Legolas sat next to her and traced the new scar on her face.

"The healer said it will fade in time meleth" he murmured. She said nothing but stared at the opposite wall. "

It doesn't look too bad, look" he continued nodding at the mirror in the corner. She did not want to look. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder and pulled her into him. "Speak to me my love, I can't help if you do not say anything" he murmured. She looked up at his face so untouched by the battle that had past. He would not call her beautiful again. She was a ruin, her body had been broken and bruised and she had failed to defend herself. His eyes held pity and concern for her and he kissed her cheek gently.

"I would trade places a hundred times over if only I could see you smile" he sighed. She closed her eyes to ignore his silent plea and she felt another vision try and worm its way into her mind. This time she was detached from it and it seemed as though it where memory. There was a large crypt like that of where her father had been buried but it had been broken open. The wall had a message on one of the walls: Hear my wrath daughter mine. I have come for vengeance.

"Eruanna?" she opened her eyes and kissed him softly.

"I'm okay" she lied. She shook his head and bundled her into his arms. She felt a tear escape down her cheek; he cradled her, rocking her, telling her everything she wanted to hear but didn't.

"Meleth, would you still love me if I hurt you" she murmured. He froze and kissed her, finally he answered:

"Yes."

"I might have to go away somewhere for a while" she explained.

"I won't allow it" he mumbled ensnaring her more securely in his arms, reluctantly she lay back, her jaw hurt too much to talk more so she allowed him to think he had won.

**  
  
**

Her reflection was only half visible in the pale moonlight. Minas Tirith slept soundly as she traced the scar across her bruised cheek. Legolas was curled up on the bed dreaming peacefully but she had no time for rest. With her armour secured upon her frame she wandered over to where he slept before kissing him gently.

"Forgive me meleth, I pray we will see each other soon" she murmured before hurrying out of the door and down the winding streets to the stables. She gazed up at the lights from a few of the windows before her eyes settled on the wizard.

"You're leaving us I see" he stated.

"I hope it will not be for long, I fear all is not well with my own kin and they are in grave danger. Tell Legolas that I love him and there was no other way; if there was I would stay" she answered. Then the wizard did something she did not expect: he smiled and took her hand warmly in his.

"I wish you a safe journey and all the luck left in this world. I will try to ease the wounds to his heart and will look for your return should you choose to do so. I pray we meet again on more friendly terms" he promised, helping her up onto the horse.

"I will return" she replied, spurring on the horse and riding out of the gates across the fields strewn still with battle.


	33. The Rebellion

Starlight cast its fingers down over the flat marshlands surrounding where she lay. Her horse was too tired to continue so she had abandoned it to go on foot. It was a regrettable decision. Progress was slow and the crypts where a long way away from gondor's white city. Nevertheless it was the better of the two options. She could have stayed to be swamped with love and pity, to see out the end of her friends and never know whether there was some truth in the dreams she had or she could face her fears and have her own war. She could not deny she liked the first option better, his love had been stifling at times but she had prized every minute of it. Now far away from his side there was no one to comfort her and love her when she felt afraid.

"You were stronger than this once" she told herself gazing up at the stars.

"And so you shall be again" the stars called back. Freedom had its high points, she was not followed or spied upon with some form of suspicion and she could be in her element with no one to chide her. She ran the risk of losing her future husband but it would be worth it to save… to save what? Her people? They did not deserve saving for sure but her loyalty was torn and it was all she could do. More to the point she had a sneaking suspicion that they wanted her to stay close to the ring and ignore the happenings that lurked beneath the eaves of fangorn. She had tried but there was an unsettling knot that had been growing in her belly that warned her that she should not ignore what was going on. If the only reason she could think of was that she was a commander and her soldiers needed her she would settle for it. Legolas could wait, he had said he would love her if she did him wrong and it was not a grievous hurt.

After a few hours she rose and continued to wade through stagnant waters and fly infested bog. It was not easy going and dawn grew closer by the time the ground began to firm under her feet. She sat down to empty the water out of her boots, her head throbbed and she felt fervours but it was not uncommon for such deliriums to occur in darker places in the world. After a few seconds she gained some control of the thoughts which were running round in idle circles and knelt in the dust, tracing a small map of the area she was in and all possible options she had. There was an inn nearby on the road that would offer shelter and food but she had no money.

"Unless…" she mused looking down at her daggers then at the small light of house in the distance. "Desperate times" she argued as her conscience screamed at her to think, all morality aside she set off in the direction of the small village.

The settlement was larger than she had expected and she decided the best way to proceed was to change her form into something less conspicuous. Down a dark alley she undressed and hid her clothing under a small hole in a wall. Now naked in the moonlight she heard the first of her bones crack and split and her body changed. Through new grey eyes she trotted on four paws round the houses without being cast a second glance. There was a reasonably larger house with what seemed to be servants in the centre of the community and her wolven eyes rested for some time upon it debating whether she was hungry or not. After a few moments, the paws that did not seem her own dragged her up the front and round to an open window. Jumping up on the sill was easy and she scrambled into what seemed to be the pantry.

There were a few legs of meat on the stand which the wolf devoured ravenously before she gained control over its instincts again and drove it into the cellar to change back to her human form. There were some old mattered clothes that were about her size and she changed back to try them on. Once she found the kitchen knives she went in search of the house’s occupant. After being so long suppressed under the watchful eyes of Aragorn it made a great sport searching for life within the building. She could of course take what she needed and leave but the part of her wanted more, the part which was Eris burned with desire; despite being separate people, their souls would forever be joined. As she began to focus, her vision changed, searching out movement and fickers of auras that meant life as her skin began to sense changes in heat, the soft sweet smells bursting on her tongue and in her nose. There was flesh within the walls, still breathing.She found him sitting in an armchair by the fire, stocky and overfed he would not make much of a challenge.

Thirst drove her to creep up behind, her fangs piercing her gums as she spun him round to face her, gazing with pleasure at the terror in the man's eyes as a soft whimper of pleading escaped him. ‘Dont do this Eruanna… you're stronger than this’ her conscience begged but she ignored the voice that had kept mortals safe from her thirst for centuries. She had served them for months, now it was their turn to pay their debts. The skin melted under the venom like molten wax, blood like burning lava cooled the thirsty burning in her throat and she held the choking man down against the polished wood as she finished his life’s song. Grunting with satisfaction she went in search of more prey, piling up the bodies in one room as she found them.

After drinking the occupants of the house dry she gathered up what wealth he had and abandoned the house, a laugh pouring from her lips as she wiped the blood from her face on the ragged sleeve of the borrowed tunic, enjoying the sweet smell of burning as she watched the house explode in a storm of fire.

Once back in her usual clothes she sat in the alley, her conscience back in control, retching up most of her meal as her internal morals laughed, scalding her for being overly greedy. Control was a thing that naira had to be taught and her father had never done so, yet this kind of relapse to madness was strange. There were screams filling the night air and she knew what would come next. Torches and knives like hunters chasing a fox. Gathering herself together she slipped away into the dawn towards the little inn.

It was midday when she reached the small inn on the side of the road. Its sign hung limply from one of its chains and its stone work had seen better days but the people were welcoming and had a story to tell so she stayed. She was served a large amount of bread and ale but asked no questions of her business by the owners. There were a few glances from other tenants but nothing unusual. A young man followed her soon after and joined her at her table. Soft copper hair and bright grey eyes gaze at her across the small table. By the looks of him he had met some unsavoury folks upon his journey for his uniform was speckled black with sludgy droplets. It could be mud but it was unlikely, he seemed the sort to keep clean.

"I thought naira had fangs" he said finally. She glared at him and said nothing, baring her teeth and allowing her fangs to show momentarily. The man raised an eyebrow with confusion. After a few moments he looked at her food hopefully and she passed him some of it. He thanked her and devoured it with gusto.

"What brings you so far this way" she asked.

"Orcs killed my sweetheart" he muttered bitterly.

"Ah, thought so."

He stared at her, "It is custom to say I’m sorry" he reprimanded her.

"I didn't do it so I have nothing to feel sorry for" she retorted, running her tongue over the still slightly visible canines. He studied her for a few moments, his hands slowly removing themselves from her food.

"Do you have a lover somewhere; I imagine you do with a face like that." Her stomach knotted and she looked down at her hands.

"I left him to deal with some business, we were to marry" she answered curtly, narrowing her eyes with suspicion. His brow knotted in confusion and he took a swig of ale from her mug.

"I imagine this business is to do with your kind joining with the enemy" he enquired casually, stealing a sip from her tankard.

"I do not recall this occurring,when did this treaty take place?" Eruanna quired softly, inspecting her nails in an attempt to look disinterested.

"Some days ago we had word in our fort that naira had been spotted around Mordor then a scout told us that their king had sided with the enemy and his people are too afraid to fight him" the man explained. She felt sick, her people fighting with Sauron? Why then have her try and destroy the ring unless she would send it into the enemy's grasp. Unless… Eruanna shook the thoughts from her mind, reminding herself of her people's fickle allegiance to the winning sides.

"Are you alright you look pale…" the man asked, she nodded and tried to changed subject but the man continued "you clearly didn't even know that they were planning to go to war so I will not behead you."

“You could not kill me even if you wanted to. I am pure blood, only a creature of the shadow can harm me.” she snorted indignantly, waving her hand across the empty tankard so that it steamed and refilled with drink.

His eyes twinkled with amusement, she swigged at more of the ale and began to converse with him on other matters such as the recent events that had brought them to an inn in the middle of nowhere.

It grew late and they laughed and drank till they could not stand, the man then retired leaving her alone again. How long in the dark unquiet known would she have to live before the truth was revealed, before her mind was fully her own? If her people fought against her friends then there would be a massacre on both sides but in the end, middle earth's free folk would fall.

"Naira don't die easily" she told herself, ordering ale to quench the ache in her heart. She had learnt from the man that her brother was fully recovered and out for vengeance. The armies of men were growing in numbers and her regiment had vanished without a trace on a hunting trip. That news stung the most, those who she had considered her true family had simply abandoned her. She would have asked them for their aid and pray their loyalties were as strong as they had often claimed. Twenty five of Termoree's best warriors did not just disappear and she knew that something was very wrong. If war had broken out and sides had been formed within the city walls, they would not only be fighting the free peoples but themselves. It was possible that they had done as she had done and tried to fake their deaths, it had lasted a short while before pride and some small degree of vanity had got the better of her, but what other choice would they have but to hide?

Horse's hooves clattered on the cobbles outside and made her look hopefully to the door and a dark cloaked figure stomped in, she watched with interest before covering her face with her hood. The figure stank of blood and sweat even from where she sat, it was still very pungent, yet far too familiar.

"Naira? My kin?" she thought sniffing herself involuntarily. The figure vaulted the nearest table and sat down opposite her, demonic red eyes glittering from below a rain soaked hood. More figures in similar garb entered and the innkeeper frowned and gave her an odd look as they sat near her. They were most definitely her kind. The cloaks bore the symbol of her own house but she wasn't sure why. The one who had first entered lowered her hood and Eruanna grasped her blade before launching it at the throat of the woman.

"You bastards" she snarled, "you let me think you had been killed, you bloody bastards!"

"It's nice to see you too" laughed the woman she had the dagger to, "Dreger, would you care to explain to our wonderful commander why we are here before she slits my gullet?"

The others lowered their hoods grinning, Dreger who had lunged out of the way staggered to his feet, "Once you release my beloved wife Eruanna I might begin to explain why we are here."

"If you want me to apologise to Carlis it is never going to happen" Eruanna hissed through gritted teeth as she settled back in her seat.

"You never where the 'sorry' type" Carlis laughed, picking herself up of the floor. The others sniggered and allowed Dreger to begin his explanation.

"Your darling brother sent us to make sure you were okay. Apparently you were fighting Sauron's forces and he went to check up on you and assure you he was not dead. Instead he met with a very heartbroken elf who told him you had snuck away during the night on some top secret assignment you had no intention of telling anyone about. Naturally as your very close friends we decided to track you down. You're getting lazy I might add, it was ridiculously easy."

"Did he say how Legolas was?" Dreger frowned at her and shook his head.

"So it is true? You have fallen for him" Carlis asked. She felt a weak smile pass her lips and saw a few disapproving looks being passed around the group. Eruanna climbed up on the table and prepared herself, thinking fast. She needed an army, and people she trusted.

"This isn't about who I'm in love with. This is about war!” she snarled, watching as her regiment nodded in approval.

“Yet you are letting your heart rule your head…” Carlis chastised, “See everyone how our leaders first thought is of the elf…”

Eruanna turned a cold steely gaze on her lieutenant.

“Be careful Carlis how you speak. You are an exile now, there are no laws protecting you from my blade...I have heard of my uncle's choice and I will to put a stop to it before middle earth is torn to shreds. If you choose to come with me we will be committing treason of the highest degree. "

“Nothing new then” Carlis remarked and laughter rang out amongst the soldiers.

“We will be fighting for truth not safety but my friends we will be fighting and all will cower before the finest warriors this land had ever seen.” she continued grinning at her friends as the voices died, “And If we die.. We Die as we were born to be, We will die as free people, fighting for no one but our own cause, our families, our lives in the glory of shedding our blood to see those who oppose us fall. My friends, let us toast to a new age… an age where we are our own masters!”

**  
  
**

Eruanna lifted her glass, “Here’s to rebellion!” She cried, downing the liquor in one, her friends cheered and raised the ale in a toast, laughing as the candles leaped up with the surge of joy filling the room and the counter cry of “Down with the king!”  echoing across the stone walls.

The door burst open and Devae strode in, his wild eyes glowing in the candlelight, his hair plastered to his face giving a glimmer of lunacy to the usually astute features, her comrades went silent and looked down at their hands. He walked over to where she stood and picked up a flagon before grinning, raising it to the other naira.

"Wonderful, moving speech. When do we start, sister?"


	34. Brutal Truths

The straw of the mattress dug into her back and her brothers snores kept her awake though her body begged for rest. She lay awake watching her friends sleep peacefully in the small room they had managed to pay for with the gold they had left. Not all twenty five of them had decided to stay; ten had made excuses and had gone off hunting for food but the ones she was closest to had insisted on staying with her. Her thoughts drifted to her change of companions, a dwarf who was nothing like her mother had warned her of. A man who had seen the world and she had grown to respect. A wizard that was so unpredictable she had begun to enjoy his company, dispite his evedent dislike of her. The hobbits who even in the worst of times could make her smile and the elf; that foolish elf who had stayed by her side even when he had seen the darkness in her heart and what her mind had become. That elf who had conquered her stone heart that none had even warmed before.

Slowly, she got up off the bed and went over to the small window, out across the lands was a city of men. Those men would rise to become the greatest of all. She wondered if he did the same and gazed up at the stars and across the plains seeking something that he too had lost. She wondered if the halflings gave her a thought whilst the wizards taught them about the history of the world. She wondered if the ranger had begun to trust her before she left. She wondered then if she would ever see them again to hear their laughter, the tales they had to tell and his soft voice telling her she was not what she believed herself to be.

In time they would forget her if she did not return, he would mend his heart and marry one of his own kind; the captain of the guard he had spoken of in Rivendell would make a fine wife for a prince.If she did return she could not hope that all would be forgotten.

There was blood under her nails and she picked at it as she watched the moon sigh. Such forlorn hopelessness she had never felt before. She had never known what it was to hope for a better life and so she hadn't. Now she had a taste for a different world and she wanted more than the everyday slaughter that she endured, the killing and constant violence; the days filled with routine training exercises and planning for war; the nights filled with what could or could never be. Anything would be better than to stay amongst her kin who would one day set upon one another until there was only one left. To be free of the brutal lifestyle that was normal for all of her race and to settle down away from fear of punishment and death was a dream that had almost been real.

"But it was a dream" she sighed.

"Only if you let it stay a dream."

 

She snapped her head round to see Carlis sitting on her bed watching her.

"You may be my commander but you are still younger than me Eruanna" Carlis reminded her, "I know the look of a wistful heart." She looked back to the moon and heard her friend get up before coming to stand next to her. "I also know when someone cannot sleep for fear of the dreams that follow."

Eruanna looked at the older woman and smiled weakly.

"There was a time when killing was second nature to me. I didn't care who got hurt so long as I was okay, now it seems age and experience has punished me with an illness none can cure, there are times when I am trapped in my own mind and I relive battles and other experiences I wish I could forget, I can still kill, yet each time, another nightmare haunts me, its like something is trying to scare me into submission." she explained.

Carlis nodded, "Perhaps that is when the elven gods are attempting, you are their biggest fear but that is not the reason you left, there is something bigger going on and you secretly want to know what it is."

"I had a dream that I was dead. Upon my grave stood a crow and it bore the crown. This world burned and our kind walked among the many others who died but when I reached the sea to go home I could not cross and we were trapped. Then I saw Termoree burn too and the crow spread its wings and devoured both our world and this. There are some amongst our kind who want nothing more than power over even the gods and they will stop at nothing to get it. To stop it, we are headed to the one place I wished never to go. We are going to the final resting place of my father and there we will wage our war, such dreams are prophecy" she answered calmly as Carlis nodded slowly in agreement.

 

"If its any consolation, this life is not one your father wanted for his children, nor for any of his people but like all things, we do what me must to survive. Your father loved you dearly even through his blinded grief, as do the people, you have their support and their love, perhaps when you take the throne, not all of us will be enslaved to die by the sword." Carlis said in a small attempt to change subject.

 

"If I ever become queen... It seems a very odd idea, a soldier, leading a nation. My brother is better suited to the task, he is a position after all" Eruanna remarked, biting back the smile smile of hope that glimmered in the darkness.

"I believe in you as do we all, we trust your justice and not your brothers. Your brother is too passionate and passions are ruled by the heart. It is rare you allow that to happen. We trust in that."

"Then you are more loyal then I have never given you credit for my friend, loyalty is hard to come by, even among the most steadfast of friends. I thank you for all of your words and should the time come for me to move beyond the commander of the army, I should like you at my side... If we both survive this."

"We have been through much, we will endure. Fifty thousand years in this world and I have seen much and met many, but none who are quite as resilient and stubborn as you in the face of death. Besides, if you dies, Melkor would only spit you out of the void, you would surely insult him too often and shame him too much for him to allow you to stay, that's if you didn't murder him first."

Eruanna let out a short laugh, picturing in her mind the mighty Morgoth brought to his knees by sarcastic comments and regular insult to his good name.

"I think the second more likely... if my brother doesn't tear his way through the gate way and drag my soul out before i have the chance."To this Carlis snorted, casting the young narian prince a fond glance. It was no secret to anyone of the lengths the man would go to keep his sister from harm, often putting himself in harms way to save her.

"He is a rarity it has to be said..." Carlis began before changing her tune and looking away, Eruanna sighed and squeezed the woman's hand as she saw the embers of heartbreak kindle and die in a matter of seconds.

They stood together watching the sun rise upon the hills and yawning before stretching its limbs across the hills and valleys. At last her friend asked:

"Tell me about him, the one who holds your heart." Eruanna traced the window pane and fumbled at the ring she carried around her neck.

"He is the son of king Thranduil, we met as children. He taught me about the woods and the world and I thought him all the skills of the sword though he has improved since we last met. He loved history and so did I; we were inseparable throughout our childhood. Then I had to go to war, I returned when his mother died and visited him every so often to make sure he was safe and well. He had a way of reading my mind and would often wind me up for many years I had no word of him and then we met in Rivendell and I experienced feelings that I never knew existed. I think his dwarven friend advised him to speak of his own feelings to me the he asked me to marry him. Even after all I have done… he still cared for me and I left him for something that may not be real."

 

"You will see him again and if he does truly love you, you will be forgiven. I have known you since you were but a swaddling in the cradle and your judgments have often been well chosen" Carlis argued. “Come now, you are a princess of darkness, no more tears, think only of the battle to come, that is our mission and do not allow the others to see you in such a state, they might see it as weakness and you know where that ends.”

Eruanna nodded and picked up a stray knife from the table, inspecting the edge until her friend snatched it from her grasp with a warning look.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't burden you with my woes." The older woman shook her head smiling, hurling the blade toward the door in a silent challenge but Eruanna ignored it, it was not the time for such sport. "Get the others up Carlis; we have a long ride ahead of us."

The elder woman bowed obediently and turned away, all kindness washing away in a grim fixed line that all nairan soldiers wore upon their faces.

The day was almost scorching hot under the chain mail but they did not stop till well after midday to cool off. Eruanna pulled out maps of the surrounding area and explained the route they would take. It would be midnight by the time they reached the caves and she did not want to arrive when they would be seen, so she decided to take a route through several villages to spread out their journey. Something felt ill when they passed through the first village. Distrust filled the faces of all the people, great pyres had been built around the edge. A man spat at one of the horses and its rider snarled defiantly back.

"You aren't welcome here vile beasts" snapped a woman as they rode out of the settlement.

"What was that about" Devae asked.

"I don't know… I think we might be about to find out thought" Eruanna muttered, halting her horse at the small group of peasants waiting at the far end of the bridge.

"Which one of you murdered our master?" Demanded the eldest man.

"That is a pointless question to ask, we do not know who your master is" Eruanna snapped. The man stepped up to look her in the eyes, she held her breath.

"Our master was found bled dry in his home near the marshes surrounding the town along with his most trusted servants, wife and infant son." The man spat.

"Ah…" Eruanna muttered.

Her comrade's eyes turned on her in shock; "So much for the legendary restraint of Lady Eruanna" she heard her brother whisper to Carlis.

"It was you, was it?" The man hissed.

"I might have had a little nibble" she answered, smirking.

"Here we have a soldier sworn to protect and yet she goes around killing" the man bellowed.

Eruanna snorted with amusement and curled back her lips in a feral snarl, leaning on the neck of the horse as the men drew their swords.

“Eruanna…” Devae warned softly as the men approached but she ignored him, dismounting and sauntering over to the angry mob.

“Go home to your families while I still allow it.”

The men stood their ground. Eruanna turned and stalked back to her horse giving her friends a dangerous look. The younger naira shifted nervously while the elder ones smirked. Devae gave his sister a pleading look as she mounted the dark stallion and trotted it forward to the men once more.

“I said, remove your pitiful selves from my path before I tear you limb from limb and feed you to the rats.” she threatened coolly, several men looked over at their leader who narrowed his eyes.

“No. We will have justice.”

“Fine” she decided, snapping her fingers. Two of the youngest men let out cries of pain before their ribs burst from their chest. “I won't say it again… Move.”

The men didn’t move and Eruanna sighed impatiently, turning her horse around and galloped back to where Carlis lent on her horse, a faint upon her lips as she watched the crown prince fret over his sisters rash actions.

“Eruanna… this isn’t necessary.” Devae snapped, his eyes studying the now blood splattered mass of farmers. Eruanna felts her muscles stiffen, the recent memory of others telling her how to act stirred in her mind and a small sting of anger flared up in her. After so long in a cage, after so long being denied her nature, she was free and nothing would hold her back.

“No, but they are directly in my way and as far as I’m concerned I want to reach our destination,“ Eruanna retorted, her eyes daring her brother to fight her, her brother lowered his soft tawny eyes away from the bloodshed and accepted defeat, “Carlis, be a dear and remove the wretches from our path, and make it quick.”

The elder naira nodded and dismounted, drawing her blade Ravensclaw and advancing on the mortals. The screams that fills the air broke the air and the silence echoed around the village before the first wailing's of women began to call out across the place. Carlis returned, wiping her blade on her sleeve, carrying the head of the leader.

“Here, It might make a good reminder to others that we are not as soft hearted as they believed.” the lieutenant said, handing Eruanna the head, Devae sighed with mild disgust and turned away as his sister cut a lock of hair from the head and added it to her warrior's braid to sit alongside the others she had conquered, she then handed the head to the youngest member of the group.

“Put it on a spike and enchant it. No one must touch it till the maggots have eaten away the flesh and the bone had bleached in the sun.” Eruanna ordered, turning her attention back to her braid as she plaited it into a headband.

“Surely we should give them a respectable burial?” Devae asked softly, his eyes filled with almost pity.

For once, Eruanna did not laugh at her brothers strange affection for the other races but gave him a gentle smile and reached out to squeeze his shoulder.

“No Devae, there is no time. Later you can ask their forgiveness but now you must come with us.”

For once, Devae bowed his head and turned his back, following the patrol away from the massacre towards the burial mounds of the dead.

 


	35. The Fight Begins

They awoke early to find their captain taking a knife to her copper gold locks, slicing at them viciously and muttering in a language few could understand. Devae glanced over to Carlis who gave a forced smile as she began ordering the others in the group to pack away. Their captain seemed content with sheering her hair and several naira looked slightly uncomfortable about it; for many, the hair contained part of the growing soul and to cut it was to let a part of you die. Superstition was not Eruanna’s thing but she believed in this one. Breathing a sigh of relief as she worked around the soldiers braid,Deave inched closer to his sister  who grinned at him with a very smug smile. No doubt it was another of her stupid stunts to convince her comrades that she wasn't afraid, only mad. Of course, even the stupidest did not believe it.

Eventually the captain was satisfied and got to her feet, barking orders at those who were staring for too long before getting up onto her horse. Devore followed, speeding up his own stallion to walk beside her.

"I know why you did it. You don't have to punish yourself" Devae argued, he felt some comfort with the fact that her hair would grow back before her lover would see it, but thought the new style suited her ill and was struggling to bite back the snide comments that came with the disappointment. Time it seemed had not changed her.

When he had seen the elf he had seen sorrow in his eyes but there had been hope too. He saw the same look now in his sister's eyes masked by the cold determination she had always carried. Unlike his sister, Devae had never knew what love really felt like, his marriage was a decent one but he did not love his wife. The girl had loved once but she had died what a plague spread through the city and he guarded his heart from everything and everyone.When his sister had vowed a life of chastity it was because she loved her work, now he saw it was because she loved someone who she may never be with.

As the day drew on questions were raised on why they needed to be hasty and why the could not stop to hunt. Eruanna answered them all curtly, giving little away, her eyes fixed on the road before her. In the end, the companions fell silent and stopped asking questions of their captain, with the exception of a few younger ones who were silenced with a flame bolt to the head. They took it reasonably well, their burnt hair ends being the cause for much laughter, some accusing them merrily of trying to usurp their commanders style to which even the stone cold leader gave a brief smile.

* * *

Despite loss of what she considered her only decent feature she felt reasonably optimistic, the others didn’t understand her actions but she didn’t care, in truth she had needed a change to distance herself from her other life.

The wind had picked up and it was pleasantly cool, her brother had given up on asking questions and had retreated into his thoughts presumably to moon over his lost suitors and failing marriage. Their destination as near and the cliff top insight. All laugher was quelled and all talk stopped as the great rock heaved up into the sky.

"What the dwarf would give to see this" Eruanna thought. The rocks where indeed of some foreign grandeur, great statues carved into the jagged stone. Between them there was a small entrance surrounded by decaying flowers. Men avoided this place, naira feared it. It was the place where those who had died in the revolts years ago had been buried and some said that they never really slept. They dismounted and crept nearer, covering their faces to block out the rotten smell. The chamber they stepped into was jet black; she held out her hand and allowed the small flame to flicker from it. The small light cast a dim shadow over the rust walls.

"How are we to fight when we cannot see" said one of the youngest.

"Magic Learnsa, magic and skill, we are the highest ranking guards in the whole of Termoree, darkness is our friend" Eruanna answered, holding out her palm to ignite a small flame. A few of the others also lit flames and soon the room was filled with orange light.

"There's no tunnel…" Devae whispered.

"Not yet there isn't, the stories about this place say that black magic holds this tomb shut… so black magic will open it" she answered, running her hands over the back of the cave.

"Devae, pass me my dagger…" Devae handed her the dagger from her belt and stepped back. She cut into her palm and breathed the blood across the stone. It travelled up the cracks forming the outline of a door.

"There is a riddle at the top…" Carlis muttered, pushing past the uneasy soldiers to join her captain.

"I've seen something like this before on moria's gate, you say the answer to the riddle and it will open" Devae whispered, his eyes following the script intently as his brow furrowed.

"Very good little brother… but none of us read elvish."

The stared long and hard at the words; trying desperately to decipher them. The soft howl of a growing wind only added to the unease as one of the youngest members began to tell ghost stories as their leaders focused on cracking the password.

"I thought you grew up with elves, did you never bother to speak their tongue" Devae complained, folding his arms across his chest and leaning on a sharp rock.

"I speak nine other languages for starters, secondly, far more elves speak the common tongue than any other race so I didn’t see the need to learn it," she snapped back, cracking her knuckles as a slight warning..

"Yet you are supposed to be marrying an elf" sniggered Carlis good naturedly and several others began to laugh until a voice from the shadows silenced them.

"There are four brothers in this world that where all born together. The first runs and never tires. The second eats and is never full. The third drinks and is always thirsty. The fourth sings a song that is never good." The voice was soft as liquid silver but it stung a bitter cold within her soul as well as warming her heart.

"Eris" she muttered. From the shadows came the tattered witch, her black dress torn and tattered against her pale skin. Her comrades drew their swords and waited for the command to strike.

"Hello sister" Eris giggled. Devae moved to stand beside his twin, the two broadswords gripped tightly in his hands as he flexed his muscles.

"What do you want traitor" Carlis spat, the double edged blade in her hand glittering like ice.

"I see they did not fall for our Eris is you and I am Eruanna trick then” Eris murmured, looking directly at Eruanna, winking with a knowing smile.

“No, but the rest of the world believes we are the same person. The matter still stands however, you betrayed my trust, you murdered an innocent.” Eruanna hissed.

“We're all traitors here… you most of all. After all, we are all committing treason… and you did betray the god you served as a priestess to a darker more powerful god by taking my name… how was it, the power running through your veins, the thirst for blood? I hear you murdered thousands" Eris retorted, "But you wanted a riddle translated, I have given you the answer, now little sister, figure it out..." Eruanna frowned and followed the letters with her eyes. How long had she been here to figure it out. She didn't know the answer or else she wouldn't need to ask for her help.

"Come on, I know you're smarter than you think you are." Eris hurried, “You’re smarter than me and this bunch of soldiers you keep, it’s why no one has the guts to kill you, you’re not just skillful but cunning too, it’s why our souls were bound by our gods, we are one in two bodies, two sides of the same coin and we want the same thing. We want our freedom.”

Reluctantly Eruanna accepted the truth inwardly but pretended to focus completely on the door

"Fire… the second is fire…" There was a soft click like a bolt being drawn. "The fourth… is wind." There was another click. "Earth, air, fire and water" Eruanna decided, smiling inwardly at the small success. The doors swung open. Eris grinned, clapping her hands mockingly as she caught the wary glanced,

"Lead the way little sister, after all if you die first, we all stand a chance of surviving."

Whatever madness had driven them to the tombs was forgotten when they reached the resting place of the fallen. Tomb after tomb stretched out as far as the eye could see. On a raised platform there stood one casket. Its sides cast with gold and its lid of pure ruby, it was almost fit for a king but the cobwebs that clung in the air smothered the grandeur the coffin and left it lifeless like its occupant.

"There lies our beloved father" she heard her sister sigh wistfully, pointing out over the large halls to the platform at the centre.

"I wouldn't be so sure" Eruanna muttered, her dream still close in her memory. Their feet rang out in the cool still air, light reflected down from ever burning lamps high in the ceiling casting shadows across the white marble. The turned to the tomb of their king and she climbed the steps. Her brother pushed the heavy jewelled lid back to reveal the cold rock casing. Where the stone lid should have been there was rubble.

"Check the other tombs now" Eruanna ordered, holding her breath with dread gripping her by the throat. Her friends scurried from one to the next, prying off the lids to find them empty.

"Corpses don't just vanish" Eris hissed, her arms bursting into a black flame as she scanned the surroundings.

"No, they don't, there are few who have such power but I think we can all guess who would do this." She whispered, “This has been a plan long in the making… and we few are the key to its undoing. Its why they want us dead.”

"You mean our uncle would raise every corpse in this place just to defeat a few men? How should we look in the eyes of Eru then? Does he wish for us to remain trapped in this land?" Devae snarled, his usually gentle nature shaken by the outrage of such a desecration.

"I don't know…" Eruanna began, her eyes resting back on the coffin her father should have lain in. With a start a black rook fluttered up out of the casket and at on the edge. At first she flinched and backed away before she steeled her nerves and summoned the power within her; if the bird had been in the casms the whole time, it would surely know something. She reached out her hand steadily, attempting to ignore the panic swimming round her mind, concentrating only on the birds thoughts rather than its meaning.

In the birds memories she saw a great dark wave spread across the catacomb, then skeletal soldiers rose from their thumbs and bowed down to their king. She wrenched her hand away, snapping the foul creatures neck before she turned to look at her friends.

"From this day forth, all those who will follow me will wage war upon our own kind. From this moment onwards there will be no rest until the king is dead and the true bloodline restored to power. All those who will not follow me leave now and go to the doom that will before those who turn their backs" she announced. No one moved, no one spoke a word.

Not even Eris argued, instead she was the first to speak, "I think little sister, it is time for a new king. One who is fair and just in his actions. I think sister; we all will follow you until the end, be it in fire or in ice. We will die at your side, I too would gladly do so… If you and your band of miscreants will have me."

“Eruanna… we do not need her. It would be too dangerous.” Carlis advised softly.

“I know we cannot trust her… but we do need her, she has an understanding of such power that drives this army.” Eruanna countered, “If I think she moves to betray us, I will kill her. Shes my sister and my responsibility and I will take the blame should my judgement fail.”

“Then it is settled… we are at war.” Devae murmured, looking around at the nodding faces of the last of Termoree’s true children.

“Yes brother… we are at war.”


	36. Broken and Healed

My beloved,

I write this now with a heavy heart in the hope that one day, should you come looking for me, you shall learn of my final battle, and you shall know that duty alone tore me from your side. You must know that I will always love you in a way that words cannot describe, I could use all the ink in the world to try and describe my love for you but it could never be enough. I hope that you know that I hope to return to you, but fortune may not be so kind, as you know it has never been kind to me in the past. You always were my best fortune. If I die, I hope to join the many stars so you may search among them and find me, watching over you in death as I wished to in life. It pains me to write these words as I remember the hope you have me and the love we shared, I pray I shall once again find myself in your arms. I also pray that you can forgive my deceit as you have done so many times before. I saw you in my dreams last night, you held me in your arms once more and I held our child. I wept for you and the pain I carry with me for leaving you behind. I so wish to return to you, but there is evil in these lands and I am not young enough or ignorant enough to think myself indestructible.

Heart, I wish now as the long night awaits me to have you back at my side, I want to hear you laugh again and not the cold whisper in the trees. I know so long as you breathe your warm breath in this world I will have a reason to keep living. Yesterday I had some hope that my sister is returned to me and I think there is yet some good in this world. I know you will say I am too trusting and perhaps I am but better that than what I once was. My gentle one; I think the dwarf would like it here, there are large rocks with carvings bigger than any I have seen before, they make me feel so small and insignificant. I know you shall be grieved to learn how far I am away from you and I must ask you to think of me warmly, there is far too much sorrow for you to grieve my absence. Remember I am not alone, for I always carry you with me in my heart, and i am not too discontented, though this ink may become smudged by my tears.

If all this war were to end, I should not know what to do with myself, my companions would struggle also. Our legacy is one of war and we know nothing else. However you, my dear one, belong in a land of peace and freedom, you do not belong in war. Should I die, I hope you will move on with your life, never to forget but thinking of me as a fond memory. I shall be thinking of you to get through these next few days. I shall often think of you as my first kiss, and as my last. I would be lying if I said I that I hoped it would not be the same for you, I would be insincere if I said I wanted you to love someone as I have loved you. But, my treasure, if I die I will hold no grudge for you or for the one who will, in time, mend your heart. I only wish for you to be happy. You once told me that attraction was falling for someone of your likeness but I think on it now and I believe attraction to be us. For we are so different yet our souls are the same in many ways. In such a way, I believe attraction to be recognising something in a soul which you hold close in your own.

In my mind I think I see you smile, I like to imagine so. If not then I ask you to remember the first time you held me in your arms and called me love... you must be smiling now. The dreams I suffer are not so bad of late and I imagine that my fears are lessening but I know it will not last. I think, when this is over, I should like to learn to sing or dance or even play the harp. Now I hear you say "where have you taken my Eruanna?" and I shall tell you that I am dreaming a song up in my head, for you.

There is a young foal in the stable from which I write to you, he reminds me so much of the one your father gave you. But now my mind wanders and I am short of words to express myself to you. I pray you forgive my writing; I never did learn to write properly. I need you to know, whether we meet again in this life or the next, I will always be yours.

Your sweetheart,

Eruanna.

"You alright laddie?" grunted Gimli from beside him. He read through the letter that had arrived this morning in the talons of a buzzard. It was her scrawling handwriting, smudged and stained but it was hers. The dwarf nudged him wanting a response but he said nothing. He knew all the dwarf would see would be the calm mask that hid the searing pain within him.

"I'm fine Gimli" he said at last, beginning to delicately fold up the parchment.

"Can I see it?" his friend asked gently. He looked at the piece of paper than at the worried expression on his friends face.

"Later Gimli" he sighed before running up the battlements to gaze out across the flat lands surrounding Minas Tirith. His friend followed and traced his gaze out across the green grey landscape.

"I don't know what to do Gimli, I could write back, that bird is still here" Legolas murmured, fondling the corners of the paper. The dwarf smiled and took the letter from him; he read it carefully before handing it back.

"What would make you feel better?" The dwarf asked finally. Legolas watched the as the riders cantered around the outer wall, his friend did not require an answer this time.

* * *

His friend seemed to be tearing himself apart and for once Gimli had no words to help or soothe him. Much of what needed to be said would only anger the elf and what should never be said would upset him. At first when the wizard had told him that she had gone he had refused to believe it, then he had accepted it. Now he was breaking from the separation and loneliness she had left behind. Elves where no good at coping with loss, they did not have to, theirs was a life that lasted for an eternity. The letter he held in his hand now had given him some desperate hope and though reason scorned him for it; love begged him to keep searching the horizon every day for a figure to ride across the plains.

"She will come back Gimli, she always comes back" Legolas told him, turning away from the wall. It was no easy task keeping up with the elf's long strides and Gimli found it a small but pleasing challenge when he achieved it. They ended up in Gondor's library where he saw the elf searching for an unknown book. When at last he found it, he flicked briskly through it before finding some parchment and a quill and copying some ornate text before settling toe book back on its shelf. He peered at the parchment but Legolas snatched it away. They then went in search of the bird that had brought about the sudden change in the elf's mood. Once the bird with its message had been released, he heard a small breath being released from his friend's lips and a small smile passed over them.

"What trickery makes you smile so?" Gimli inquired.

"Merely a memory master dwarf, though I am not inclined to share it" his friend answered. Such an answer left Gimli swimming with questions and he ran after Legolas bellowing, only to hear a small laugh drift back to him on the wind.

* * *

They had been eating the last of the bread when a familiar bird landed on a tree branch nearby. To her surprise it had a letter attached to its leg. She checked her friends were suitable occupied she climbed up the branches and retrieved the parchment from its claws. She opened it slowly, on it where the words of a book she had once read.

Beyond this moment of discord the ocean's whisper, after the rain of evening your lover wanders under a cloudless sky of twilight of which the poets speak, in the lagoon of memory the words I forgive you and ask only one thing: return soon my love.

It could be a mistake but she prayed that it was not, the bird could have gotten lost but she recognised the writing in which it was scribbled.

"Eruanna, are you going to cook this rabbit or are you going to play elf again?" Grenla, the youngest lieutenant, called up to her. Eruanna tucked the parchment into her tunic and scrambled down the tree to the bottom. The rabbit had been all ready for cooking though she was not grateful for it; it was a task that she preferred to do herself as the others usually took great chunks out of it. The rabbit was very small and it didn't take long to boil the creature into a stew that would go round the group.

"If we don't catch something else soon I might have to eat your brother" Grenla complained, forcing the broth down.

"I tried my best but there is little in this landscape to eat unless you fancy orc" she snapped back, the other woman shuffled closer to Devae and her brother gave the young lieutenant a quizzical look.

"Don't worry she doesn't usually bite" he whispered. Grenla gave her an uneasy look before turning back to her meal.

"You're new, you will get used to her changes in mood" Carlis assured her, shooting Eruanna a warning glance.

"I might remind you that I am your captain and commander, do not give me that look" Eruanna snapped, getting up and fetching the horse's oats.

"What's wrong with her?" whispered Eris, who unlike the rest of the group only knew what she had heard from passers by and little of the leaders personality.

**  
"I believe she is suffering from a broken heart" Devae sighed. Eruanna ignored them and set about feeding each horse. Her mind set on the task at hand soon forgot her heartache for a small while. The kind and gentle nature of the horses made her own self feel tranquil but they stirred painful memories also. She rested her forehead into her horse's neck to hide the stinging trickle of salty water escaping her eyes before forcing them away, it was not the time for weeping. Tomorrow they would recruit an army of their own but for the rest of the present they could only talk of a future that may or may not be.**


	37. Debates

Smoke and sweat wafted through the air of the inn, its blackened wood creaked and groaned under the weight of the water pouring onto its roof. There was a small fire in the corner and candles held by black iron holders. Great brutes of men sat in the centre of the room and round the edge sat hooded figures, whispering in low voices in anticipation of what was to come. Eruanna stood in the doorway letting the rain soak over her, soaking her hair so that it stuck to her face and making the chain mail turn to an icy temperature. Her eyes scanned the darkness for any sign of movement. It was too warm in the tavern so she stood now the rain washing over her with her face turned upwards to the sky. Such cold was not unusual but tonight she did not mind it, it was worth it for what she sought. The spot where the shackled roadhouse stood was secluded and hard to find, it was perfect cover for an act of defiance. Idly she fingered the edge of a dagger she held in her hand. Her thoughts were elsewhere and not on the task she was supposed to perform.

Eventually there was a small rustle in the trees and a tall, heavily built man stepped out.

"Welcome son of Etura" she greeted. He bowed and clasped his fist to his heart, then followed her into the warmth. Once seated the man ordered ale and then handed her the scroll he had been carrying. She checked the maps over for any missing gates then passed it to her brother.

"This was our old city before we settled in fangorn. It is likely this is where those wretches are camped. I have asked Jaracas to join us and he has offered ten thousand of his best. We will still be outnumbered but we have surprise on our side and we are far better trained for this then those walking corpses everywhere" she explained hurriedly.

"We are going to attack twenty five thousand corpses with ten thousand live Naira? Are you mad?" Gratis exclaimed, her face palingin the candlelight. Coward Eruanna thought, placing money that the girl would flee the moment the battle began.

"What hope do we have, we will either be killed in battle and a brutal death it will be but there will be pride as we die because we will die together or we will be murdered as we sleep so my uncle can retain power" Eruanna snapped.

"You are our captain, we trust your judgment only we question what it is based on" Carlis reasoned in an attempt to sooth the rising tension.

"It is based on the many innocent lives that will be lost if we do nothing, my friends could be amongst them but I do not think only of them. Do not question me on this; that is an order" she replied coldly. The older woman bowed and said nothing else on the matter; she turned back to making conversation with her siblings.

Agreements soon became heated in the group as more members put their ideas forward. After about half an hour she tired of the bickering and slipped away and out into the rain once more. There was nothing to see but the saying of trees in the violent wind, the rain had all but stopped and it fell in a weak drizzle. She wandered to the stables to keep herself from getting drenched but stopped when she heard voices.

"That's right, the queen of the naira, what a woman she was… until I stabbed her through the neck and left her to bleed" one man said, she rounded the corner to see a face she had not seen for many years. She stopped and pressed herself against the wall to listen, hand clutching the hilt of the small dagger her mother had been murdered with.

"So you had your way with her then killed her?" the other man asked, she peered round the catch a whiff of the same repulsive smell from long ago.

"Aye, I was after the daughter but the little thing is as slippery as an eel so her mother had to do, I still have a scar from where the bitch got me with her knife, here I kept the blade as a reminder, see how it glitters in the light?" the first man taunted.

"I heard that the family had been killed in a siege?" the second asked.

"Oh no, the green eyed imp survived, it seems she had alliances with the elves and they sheltered her till she grew into a brilliant soldier, I however have tracked her down, I have been ordered to kill her before the battle the king is staging, and I accepted, she will only cause him problems after all and with problems, the nairan empire will not reign supreme" answered the first.

"Are you sure it's her, fully fledged naira have red eyes?" his companion protested.

"It's definitely her, she has the mark on the back of her neck and the mark of her house too if you look at her arm you will see it burnt into the skin" crowed the man. His friend began to laugh and congratulate him.

"So, he's a man with a naira for a father or mother or else I am hallucinating" she muttered, her palm slipping on the blade handle with sweat. A bitter rage was seething through her body, bile rising in her throat. She wanted him dead but two against one so near a tavern was risky. The man's companion went back inside and the man began to saunter closer, singing to himself. She drew the dagger and grabbed his arm pulling him round to face her.

“Well, well, aren't you a pretty thing…" he began to struggle, grinning the foul green teeth in her face.

"You want to play do you?" she spat, "Two thousand years, how is it a man can live so long" she hissed, pressing the cold steel to his jugular.

"I think you have made some mistake" the man stammered licking his lips nervously. “We have never met.”

"Don’t play games with me, I want answers" she snarled. "My mother was one of your inbred kind, my father was mortal." She dug the blade deeper into his skin watching the first few droplets of blood stem from the greasy neck.  “Your uncle paid me to kill you… your mother got in the way, he wants you dead because you are supposed to kill him.”

Eruanna began to dig the blade deeper into his gullet, satisfied with his answer there was only one way it could end.

"You wouldn't harm your own kind would you?" he pleaded.

"I would not harm a pure blood… but you are filth" she growled, the man squeezed his eyes shut and began to pray. There was a strange feeling within her. Glee. She was feeling glee but it was not the only feeling. It seemed an empty victory; it would not bring her mother back.

"This is your blade, the one you used to kill my mother… now will will be your doom" the reminded him, digging the knife deeper into his skin. The flesh tore open as she severed the vital arteries and warm hot fluids poured out as she dragged the blade to his navel. The man’s body fell apart and she stepped backwards gazing down at her victim ass he choked on his blood. "Remember my face monster. Remember it when you burn in hell" she said coldly and sinking her foot into his gaping chest, she left him to die alone and friendless.

There was a shout of alarm from behind her and she wheeled found, the bloody dagger still gripped in her hand. His companion stood frozen in terror and anger at the sight of his friend gasping for air as he died. Eruanna didn't want a fight. She walked back to the door before the man screamed and ran at her knocking her and the door to the ground. She threw him off her and staggered to her feet. The bar was silent, staring at a crimson coloured girl wielding a dripping dagger. She backed over to her comrades who also drew their swords. The man who had attacked her bellowed and lunged at her before impaling himself on Devae's knife, Devae hissing with a venomous rage. Several other men advanced and she hurled a tankard of wine at the nearest before her brother pushed her behind him.

The owner had already retreated and his son began to cheer "Fight, fight" before his father quietened him. The boy got what he wanted. Plates were thrown in all directions, ale was wasted and several tables smashed as people threw each other across them. Eruanna stood on the bar top smashing china over anyone who came to close, her weapons having been lost under a mass of angry tenants. Her brother skilfully duelled four oversized drunks with one hand whilst finishing his ale with the other. The young lieutenant Gratis grappled a man twice her size throwing punches at such a rate that the poor man had little time to defend himself. Carlis sat on a nearby stool tripping up anyone who strayed from the fight, laughing at the chaos around her while she filed her nails on the roughened flat side of her blade. Carlis’s husband rolled out more ale from the cellar and succeeded in toppling several of their own troops to which the naira just laughed and helped the confused soldiers to their feet.

"Is this normal for your guards? A tavern fight?" asked Jaracas who had been forgotten in the confusion. “I’d have thought Termorees finest would be above such things.”

"I would be lying if I said no" Eruanna answered stabbing a man with a fork. Surprisingly Jaracas grinned and swung his foot at a brawny woman who had decided to join the fight. Bedlam rained down thought the inn, some of the fighting had been taken outside and flashes of fire lit up the windows before men came screaming into the inn to pour water over their burning clothes. The fight was interrupted by the arrival of an unexpected visitor. Elrénia stared in horror at her siblings who stood back to back battling their opponents with an assortment of cutlery.

"What in the king's good name is going on" she bellowed. There was silence amongst the naira and the men froze at the cold voice of the narian queen.

"Entertainment dear sister and good ale" Devae answered, gulping the rest of his ale down and dropping the tankard on the floor. It clattered noisily and several of their friends cringed and stepped backwards.

"I hear tidings that there is another rebellion on the way yet I find its leaders drinking and fighting and my own sister to be the cause of so much disorder throughout our lands" Elrénia said her eyes scanning the room. Eruanna stepped down off the table and walked right up to her sister. The two of them squared one another up.

"You stink of blood" Elrénia spat finally.

"I've been busy" her sister replied, "It seems I have been more than busy if you came here to see me."

"Don't be too flattered, the king sent me to warn you all to return or be charged with treason. You will all hang unless you come away with me" the queen answered.

Murmurs broke out across the group before Carlis stepped forward, "With all due respect you highness, we are staying here." Elrénia's face grew very pale and she stepped past Eruanna.

"You are in the company of a traitor and you deny my pardon?"

"Actually sister, we are all traitors here, even you" Devae snapped, “You are after all letting the king burn everything we stand for to the ground.”

"Very well, you are no longer welcome to come home, if we catch you we will kill you, I pray that you are not for I don't wish to lose my only living siblings, I will wait a moment outside for those of you who wish to join me to gather your things then I will be going." Elrénia announced, surveying the room before turning to leave.

A soft rustle of chainmail disturbed the quiet and Gratis smile apologetically as moved towards the door. Eruanna bit back a snarl of anger and instead smiled and moved to hug the woman.

“Forgive me captain…” the woman whispered, “I must leave.”

“I forgive you, but you are going nowhere….” Eruanna murmured, thrusting the dagger deep into the girls stomach, “Alive.”

The naira screamed in agony, light pouring from her skin as Eruanna murmured a spell under her breath and the woman turned to ash. The other naira stared for a moment then slowly bowed their heads and turned their backs. Murmurs of ‘she betrayed us’ filled the air and not even the hoofbeats of the queen leaving changed the topic. Eruanna wiped the blade clean and grimaced at the pile of ash on the floor. Carlis shook her head in disgust at what was left of the fickle Gatis and turned away. Even Devae had very little to say on the matter.

"We ride for the old city now. We do not stop until we know what is going on" Jaracas hissed, interrupting the commotion. Quickly blades where picked up and wounds checked, they hurried about checking they had supplies before leaving the tavern and passing the corpse of the bloodied man. She regretted nothing. His grim face glared up at her with unseeing eyes.

**  
"That could be us soon" someone whispered. It was all too true, within a week they could all be dead.**


	38. Soul Bound

It was cold upon the moor side but Eruanna refused any blankets; blankets gave warmth and warmth provided a need to sleep. Her companions now deeply in sleep and her own sleep interrupted by two raven's sitting close by she decided upon working out more tactics for their battle to come. It had already been decided that an army marching across the wilderness would be far too noticeable so they would travel in small groups to near where the battle would take place. She soon discovered when two of her worst nightmares sat directly above her, watching all she was doing, it would not be easy to concentrate. How far would you go to protect your family? It was a question many asked each other. There had never been a doubt to the answer a naira would give. I would kill for them was the usual answer but she did not feel that way. Truth be told she would end up killing them rather than the threat.

She watched her brother's chest rise and fall and looked away. In a similar time and place she had watched a brother similar to him lie in a crib with its little chest rising and falling. Then it had stopped. Its little face turned an unhealthy white as it had struggled to breath. The crimson then had easily washed away. The crown prince of Termoree has been assassinated by the court jester or that was the official statement. The true events had never been known. A five year old princess's word had been the only truth. She removed a dagger from her belt and traced the scars up her arm with it.

"I'm a murderer" she whispered. Her betrothed never knew how far she had fallen into the darkness. He was so innocent to what really happened behind her uncle’s palace doors. So were many of his own people. Plots and ploys, cruel torture and deception. She had just carried out the orders, but there was blood on her hands nonetheless. Eruanna looked up at the clouded sky and prayed her life be taken from her. Her brother's eyes fluttered open and she dropped the dagger. Devae was no fool; he snatched it from her grasp without a word before binding the shallow cuts.

When he had finished he simply said "This isn't you,you are stronger than this."

"Once I was perhaps" she whispered. “Before I became a slave to our fathers will.”

"No, you are my sister Eruanna, not something our father used to get his own way.”

"If that were true I wouldn't be afraid and the gods wouldn't have punished me and turned me into her I needed to be punished for becoming Eris." Eruanna answered,nodding her head over to her elder sister.

"No little sister, you are stronger and fiercer than Eris and you are a good person, she was the killer with no soul who suffered mentally because of it, you are Eruanna the bravest warrior that these lands will ever know, you once followed Eris but you outgrew her when you learned how pitiful she is. Let Eris go, be the soldier I know you are." Devae scolded. She smiled meekly before relaxing on chin on her knees as her brother platted her now shoulder length hair, she was almost grateful to Melkor for the gift of magic and fast healing, it hid her moments of madness well enough.

"I did not follow Eris, I was Eris, and she was me. But he cannot know the dark magic we used to exchange faces" she thought as her brother commanded her to rest and took over the watch.

* * *

**  
  
**

Spider threads caught at her face, a sign that no-one had been there yet or if they had it had been a while since anyone had been visiting. It was utterly dark and there was nothing but an iron cast door standing in the darkness. She felt for the lock in the obscure mist but found none. There was no handle, nothing to open it. The locked door fascinated and puzzled her, she wanted to see beyond the soft smoke that wound its way around her but there seemed no way through. She pulled her dagger from her belt only to watch it fall to dust in her hand. There was a soft grey light coming from beyond the door and she pressed herself against it. The light began to form a key hole and the handle and she turned it before it vanished. At first she saw laughing faces from her childhood. She was home in the palace in Termoree and all seemed well.

Then she blinked and there was no one. The black marble floor was white with dust, the great painted ceilings blackened and burnt; torn open to the sky as flecks of ash like flurries of snow drifted down on the soft wind. Skeletal pillars rose up to the bony rafters. The hall was empty and desolate; she took a step forward her foot sinking into the powder till it reached the tops of her ankles. Shakily she turned to face the great silver throne, half melted but still standing, covered with the same sooty sleet that fell from the sky, covering her like the hall in its decay. One foot followed the other over to the wretched seat and she knelt before it, then stood and sat gazing out over the wasted chamber. Grey upon grey stretched out across the room, the statues had vanished, the fire burning hearths and lanterns above would never be lit again.

In a daze she wintered round the room as one does when they first stand in snow. She tasted the ash in her mouth, the futile attempt of her people to live. In time the ash would stop falling the walls would start crumbling and be used for nesting birds. She went to the broken glass window and looked out over the wasteland. Grey was the mountains and greyer still where the rivers that had once possessed life. The market in the square gone along with the people, the houses which children would climb up upon the roofs on but frames of themselves. Eruanna turned back to the broken memory of childhood she had spent within the walls. With the toe of her boot she sifted away the slush to reveal black marble speckled red. There was a bird's call from where she had sat moments before. Peering round the pillar she saw on the broken back of the silver throne a black crow, staring back at her with dark eyes.

"Did you do this little bird?" she whispered.

The bird shook its head, "A little lamb with a fiery breath did this. They killed her mate so she killed them all." it crowed, flapping its wings, sending clumps of ash from the throne. She walked towards the bird gripping her sword. The bird looked up at her unblinking.

"I am family" he cawed, hopping found the seat. Scarlett drenched the ashen seat and she stepped away from it, wiping the blood away that had began to drip from her fingers. It flourished again on her hands and again she tried to wipe it away. Then from the crimson of the dead came two ravens' and they dived at her, ripping and tearing until she sank to her knees and gave in. There was silence in the hall, red pooling from a kneeling girl before a metal throne so many prized; a raven on either shoulder so she should never waken. A blade still held in her hand but the green eyes eternally vacant as the room that so many kings had lived and died in.

**The last of the naira diminished.**


	39. A Battle Lost Is A Battle Won

It wasn't dawn when Eris shook her awake. Her sister wiped away the sweat and helped her sit before giving her water and food. The deep amber eyes were bright with a new light and childish innocence, along with their brothers familiar worrying frown that now Eris too wore.

"Another dream, cascaze?"

Eruanna nodded, avoiding fully answering the question, "you haven't called me that for an age."

Eris smiled faintly, not fully allowing her thoughts to show, "No cascaze, I haven't, it has been an age since I have felt free of my entrapments and it has been an age since I have loved you as I should."

"The ring no longer holds you?" Eruanna pondered, looking east with a faint glimmer of hope. If the ring was no more, they were so close to going home.

"It is gone from this world little sister and with it all malice that once I held for others," her sister reaffirmed, "Tell me about your dream cascaze, what does your soldier's heart fear now? Surely not the dark magic we once meddled with? Or perhaps a greater evil holds you now..."

Her heart froze, how did her sister know? She had been a thousand miles away, killing and slaughtering, not once would her little sister have passed her mind and yet she knew. Light dawned on her after a moment, but she hid it quickly.

"You want to know why the traitor Eris knows that her little sister suffers from flashbacks and nightmares, gets angry and detaches herself from her emotions and drinks herself stupid? Little sister, I once lived in that body and wore your face, I learned you. I remember it well enough, learning to be you and you learned to be me and wore my face, all for the thrill of breaking the king's laws, and now you fight and you are afraid with such fear you never used to carry" Eris said softly taking her hand.

"I am a good soldier sister, what I see no longer affects me; I will fight tomorrow" she answered snatching her hand away, feeling the same contempt she had once felt to her sister stir once more.

"I know you're a good soldier, you're the best. I never said don't fight. I want you to accept others help." She studied Eris face, scarred and cold like the marble walls of her uncle's palace but she knew things in her eyes that no one else would.

"Never” Eruanna snarled, “My mind is sound, it has always been so, do not assume you know me because you once wore my skin. We fight tomorrow, wake the others, we have a long ride ahead of us."

Eris obeyed and set about shaking the others awake, Eruanna sat thinking. Her sister and a talent for knowing everything about everyone, she knew their weaknesses and fears as well as how to anger and upset them. It was good to have her as a weapon but as a friend; it was too greater risk.

* * *

"I will meet you at the encampment, I hope you make it there alive" she informed the group.It was a later start than she had hoped. Few of the soldiers had been willing to rise early and finding food for their slowly growing numbers was becoming difficult.

Around midday it began to rain and her horse began to tire. She slowed to a walk and studied the horizon. Bleak and desolate landscape lay before a large fortress half fallen and surrounded by trees. She reached the point where she was to wait for her friends and scanned the area. The grass was yellowed and trampled. There was a distinct smell of rot and graveyard. A few small trees and rocks sprinkled the flat lands before the forest. The smell seemed to be getting stronger and she could faintly hear clanking mail and something less metallic scraping together.

Chink clank. She held her breath and her hand reached for a blade. Clink clank. She turned her head slightly to see what was behind her. Clink clank. The smell was strong now. The figures were coming her way. Clink…clank. They saw her, and began to run. She froze for a moment. Two bodies of bone with bits of meat clinging to them, unseeing eyes that where clouded, chainmail that bore her regiment. She pulled the blade from the sheath and instinctive kicked the first one away. Her training kicked in and she wheeled round to the second embedding her knife in its ribs. It staggered back and she slipped out of sight. The pair of them began to sniff and turned in her direction. She lunged at the nearer one holding her breath so as not to breathe in the stanch and pulled its skull from its neck before setting it alight. Now there was only one. It had more of a face and more common sense but it also had stolen her discarded knife.

She ducked its fist then the blade that followed, bringing her foot to its jaw. It copied. The bones of its toe slashed her cheek and she reeled back. She sent a fire bolt at it and it began to howl. The thing wavered then fell forwards. Eruanna collected herself then picked up her knife, she used her sleeve to wipe away her blood then she threw the ashes of the corpses into the bushes. Her horse had vanished in terror but there were new hoof beats on the track.

"Have we missed something?" Devae asked, cheerfully, though for all his bravado she could see the fear in his eyes. Diplomats, always running with their tails between their legs.

"No, just a few corpses decided to have a wrestling match" she answered firmly, wiping away more blood.

"I bet they regretted that" Eris muttered, grinning a fangled smile as she licked her lips hungrily at the rotting flesh, Eruanna rolled her eyes and ignored the looks of savage hunger in the soldier's eyes, it would be better they remained hungry, they would be better killers when the battle came.

**  
  
  
**

* * *

Hidden under the forest trees where the rest of the soldiers. They too had experienced similar encounters and claimed there were regular patrols round the walls of the fort. They also said the gates were not well guarded and an attack on both sides would trap the majority inside and make the battle fairer.

"How many troops are the scouts saying they have" Eruanna asked her brother.

"Less than we expected, fifteen thousand dead and one thousand live ones including our beloved uncle" Devae replied, pulling out maps and charting up possible attacks.

"Well, the living won't stay for long, like most, they do not have the courage to withstand us especially as our uncle never fights in the actual battle, we should march on the main city in force to kill him after we win this battle" Eris interjected.

"I take a few of my best to remove the king if we win, I do not want to draw attention, it would be a massacre of innocent people for the sake of a gold headpiece" Eruanna replied, moving the wooden pieces across the map to where the attack formations would be. She spotted her siblings exchanging worried looks and sent them to begin explaining plans to the other officers, ignoring the iron bite in the pit of her stomach that called out for vengeance; drawing comfort that she would fight soon enough.

Nightfall was slow to come and she had finished planning by late noon. There were a few tents where the commanders could rest and she sat alone in one of them reading the letter Legolas had sent over and over until she could say the words from memory. The food that she had been brought tasted sour and the bread stale. Normally she would have been grateful for it but she found herself wishing for Samwise to be cooking her meals. There had been news that the ring of power had been destroyed. There had been none of Frodo or Sam. No news of any of her companions save that Gondor would have a new king. She was glad it would be Aragorn, he might be distrustful of her but his heart was pure. She got up and left the foul food to rot in the corner to the tent. It was time she met some of her troops.

"I think she will be a great leader, once her uncles dead, the girl is the true heir not him." She rested against a tree listening to two of the guards talking.

"Nah mate, she's too gentle hearted for all of that, give her wealth to the poor when she can, besides what good has that house of hers done for us? Ever since they became the ruling house there had been nothing but chaos" argued his friend.

“Yes but we have only ever had a king from that house and I heard the women are decent folk, if a little bit daft at times."

"Gentlemen, I would appreciate it if you refrain from calling me daft, it is a privilege given only to some and there is little truth in the stories you hear, my grandmother was a queen, you should take lesson from dwarven folk, women are to be feared not laughed at" Eruanna interrupted. Both men jumped and blushed,

**  
  
**

"Sorry commander, we was only saying how you'd be a great leader" the first man stuttered.

"We shall see what the morning brings, I am not a queen yet, I haven't been tested as one, do not be so hasty to place a crown on my head" she chided him, hiding the fond smile behind a stern but short lecture. They bowed and stumbled away grinning at one another like foolish children.

**  
  
**

* * *

Soon the horn was blown and the army moved out of the camp, Soft murmurs and songs dying away as minds prepared for war. High on the battlements dead things watched with dead eyes, the swords they carried blunted by age.

"That's going to hurt if they stick you with one of them" Eruanna muttered to Carlis who smiled faintly before she kicked a soldier who pretended to choke on his blood, snapping to him that war was no laughing matter. Eruanna had warned the others of the impending need for fire so each soldier carried a torch. It would restrict movement but their foes were not flexible, age having rotted their muscles.

The army split into two. Eris lead the rear army to the other gate and Eruanna and Devae went to the front. They would be the vanguard. The footfall was no longer orcs marching on them; they were marching on their enemy's. They stopped marching.

"Arches, prepare to fire" she called. The sound of strings being tightened broke the silence.

"Fire" Devae yelled. One thousand arrows broke the still air, wailing their way down on the battlements.

"Charge!"

Yells of soldiers flew through the air as they tore to the gates. Already rotten and broken in places they were no match for the battering ram. Eruanna ran up on to the battlements to escape the crowds of flailing swords swinging her own at the head of a corpse before pushing it from the battlements into the already burning oil moat below. Her sister had broken through the south gate and her lancers built a speared wall around the archers, alongside the sell swords they had hired who all carried claymores. The sons of Etura had begun building a shield wall several men high and very little was escaping the city through the southern gate.

Horses with their riders surged through the east gate and the west gate collapsed last. Many of the soldiers had taken the fighting to the fields and fire raged and cracked all around. Her own ears where filled with snapping bones and a man near her gurgling as he died. She sunk her blade into his chest and ran at another skeleton. This one had no weaponry and fell easily only to have a larger one replace it. It swung its fist at her jaw and she tasted the blood in her mouth. She screamed at it and threw a fist into its ivory face, fire licking up her body as rage overcame her an ancient ancestral power coursing through her blood. After she came to her senses she saw sitting on the top of the battlements a corpse bearing the mark of her house and aloft his head a crown. It was a challenge too good to refuse. She’d slain him once in greaf, now he would taste her fury.

"This time you pile of kingly s**t, this time you die for good" she snarled, running at him as fast as she could. It seemed her siblings had the same idea for they collided with the stack of bones and were thrown backwards. Eruanna checked the battle below. Many of her soldiers lay dead but they had almost won. She turned back to the foul creature that stood before her and her brethren.

"Well my children… kill me" it hissed, the still visible features of a handsome young man clinging to bone. Eris screamed and hurled her sword into its chest, the anger of her banishment too much for her to bear; her brother wrestled it to the ground, hissing and snarling, fangs glimmering in the light as his twin sister stood, sword by her side, still as stone as a calm filled her. The dead king threw his children off him as though they were rag dolls, Eris hit her head against the stone and lay still. Devae staggered to his feet, grunting. Eruanna threw her dagger into the skull of the carcass king and it staggered too as Devore lunged once more.

A louch screech behind her brought her blade round in a swift arch removing the head on an enemy before she turned back to her father as he threw her brother to one side.

“Well daughter, sweet daughter, won't you protect me as you always did? Or will you slit my throat again to take my crown?”

“No father. You have no throat left to slit.” Eruanna answered coolly, “But you sill have a backbone I can sever.”

With one swift movement she was upon the remains of a father she had loved, she smelt the blood and sweat filling the air, the rotting decay of their enemies. Her mouth tasted metallic and dry. She could hear cries for help and curses of men as they missed their mark. Metal meeting flesh and more metal and cheers of victory. Then a sharp blow to the back of her head knocked her sideways.

“Back of sister, Hes mine.”

Eris.

Devore looked over to her in horror as their sister was once more thrown across the battlements before changing their enemy.

“Forgive me sister.” Eruanna muttered and raised her palm, sending a pulse of energy in Eris’s direction. Eris crumpled to the ground in sleep. Devore lurched towards the king once more as the cheers filled the city.

"We aren't victorious yet" she mumbled staggering to her feet. Her brother was thrown into the cheering army below and lost from sight. She stumbled on her feet, catching her breath, wiping her bloody nose as her eyes focused on the king of the dead. He raised his sword and she threw herself onto its back, ripping its head off with a savage scream of hatred, forgetting all else but the desire to kill. The sharp sword fell from its grasp, slicing into Eris's throat as she lay unconscious beside her enemy. A scream in the distance brought her back to reality and she turned her eyes to her brother below her screaming.

“What have you done?”

Silence fell as corpse fell off the side of the battlements, ringing in her ears as she turned around slowly, dread ripping at her heart. She felt her knees hit the rock and her hands scrabble in the gory dirt for something, anything that might help to rip out the blade of ice that seized her heart. The battle was won. The war was won. Eris was lost. Another of house cultus was gone. She sat next to the still warm body. No tears fell from her cheeks. There was a dull empty throb inside her chest, the ice melting as it became thorns. Her brother ran up the battlements and shrieked with rage. He kicked the wall and pounded his fist against unforgiving brick. Below they bowed their heads. Eruanna took up her sister's hand, releasing it as it went cold. She turned her eyes upwards, in a tower, a small light flickered and a crowned figure stood smirking.

She rose to her feet to sheath her sword as she stalked her new prey with her eyes. Her brothers soft groan of pain broke through the thorns gripping and twisting bitterly in her heart and she turned away. The unspoken vow lingering in the air.

"Devae, carry our sister to the forest. Have the healers prepare her body. We will bury her. You will stay here and kill the remaining corpses and burn those who have fallen" she instructed. Her brother nodded sullenly, wiping away the tears in his eyes, scooped up the limp body and carried it away.

Night was almost over but with the last of it the many funeral pyres were lit. They all stood watching as they burned to nothing and then nothing turned to ash and sailed on the wind.

"It is over. We are free to go home" Carlis sighed.

"You may go where you will. I still have a king to kill" Eruanna muttered. Her friend gave her a sympathetic smile and embraced her.

"I will come with you… then I go to Termoree, I will tell them of a girl who left it and became the best of all of us, who fell in love with an elf and may someday return"

"No Carlis, you will tell them of a bad girl who did all she could to save her friends, you will tell it how it was with no extra details, you will even include the worst of me and you will tell them that I mean not to return" Eruanna corrected,"I have a home here, if I go back to my birth lands I will tear them apart slowly But for now, I would ask you remain here with the rest of the regiment, I may have need of you soon"

**  
Carlis smiled sadly, nodding bregrudgingly and Eruanna turned to her brother. She kissed his cheek and said her goodbyes then slipped back into the treeline without another word.**


	40. All Hail

Once there were cities of white marble and palaces of gold. Rooms made of ruby, emerald and sapphire. Of pearl and topaz, azure and diamond, black jet and cream pearl. There were rooms which floors spanned great lengths; of gold they were fashioned from or better still a multitude of different gems like fallen stars set in perfect silver cement. No man was poor and all were richer than the poorest lord of men. They dined of fine cuisine that even the gods would die for and sweeter wine than any vineyard could ever produce. Once the naira had belonged to different lands where such wealth was possible and all were equal not those who were rich were rich and those who were poor were poor; there was no middle ground. There were no sparkling citadels or shining palaces with rooms of pretty colours. There were some remnants of a forgotten world. The home of the king had been replicated in some rooms but the resources where needed for war. Floors and ceilings had been decorated with what gemstones they had left and much of the work left unfinished.

It was to this false beauty that Eruanna stumbled, tired and alone in the world with vengeance still bitter in her mouth. Her home she would never see again, her sister was dead and she was yet named traitor whilst the real traitor lived. Her house was all but a memory, tarnished and stained by the bloodshed of a thousand ages. The bleak rain poured in torrents and she staggered onwards, tears stinging at the corners eyes with a hopelessness that had begun to consume her.

"What point is there?" She screamed into the grey daylight and a soft flicker of silver light flashed and was gone. With her tunic sodden and torn she sank beneath the shelter of a tree and took out a small slip of saturated parchment. The ink had run and she couldn't read the words but she knew what they meant. Slowly she let the paper disintegrate into nothing. "There is none" whispered the wind.

"Not if I give up" she answered, climbing back onto her feet and back into the storm.

How many miles she walked she did not know, the wind whipped up her hair and clawed at her face, cracking her lips and freezing her cheeks, she kept on until the treeline of a darkened forest came into sight and she huddled beneath its canopy, her skin not feeling the cold but her heart feeling its fingers rob her of her strength.

When some of her strength returned she staggered to a stream; in its waters was someone she couldn't recognise. Wild hair and blazing red eyes, almost beautiful to behold, a scar upon her cheek that made her seem savage. She flicked the water and it rippled before settling. This time she saw what she always saw: dull green eyes and slightly less waist length hair the colour of muddy corn, filled with braids like some nordic god of her peoples legends, yet it was dulled by the black endless sky in the background. She cupped her hands and sipped up the water before heading towards the rising slopes that hid her city under the canopy of illusion.

* * *

It had been a half a month since the enemy had fallen but Eruanna had not returned. Normally Legolas would be the one to gaze across the lands from the battlements but for some reason the dwarf was growing impatient of her impudence. She had promised to return but had not done so yet. He decided upon heading to the kitchens in the end, with a final glance over the grasslands he followed the winding stone down to the warm kitchen.

Minas Tirith was a masterpiece of stone work in his opinion, but the amount of stairs designed for men were somewhat of a hindrance for a dwarf. It had taken a few days for him to devise a method of getting around speedily, by using the smaller back alley stairs he could travel mostly unseen all over the city. This had confused his companions when they had gone in search of him. Now he saw that Gandalf was searching high and low for him and he watched with amusement as several of the townsfolk told the wizard that he couldn't get far.

Once escaping the clutches of a furious wizard Gimli took up residence in the kitchens, advising the staff on what seasoning to put in the soup and checking the standard of the food where his favourite past times. When the elf had not been occupied with the endless amounts of books in the library they had gone around the city together but now Legolas had taken it upon himself to learn a new language and had shut himself away during midday. After the third time of having his hand slapped by a ladle he debated whether to find the hobbits. After much contemplation he thought it agreeable.He never did find the hobbits; instead he met with a pale faced naira who he recalled as Devae.

"Gimli, is my sister in the city?" Gimli was taken aback by the urgency of his question.

"No laddie, I haven't seen her for quite a while now" he informed the naira. He watched panic flit across the fair chiselled features then the impenetrable mask swamped it. "Why, where is she?" he pressed.

"I fear she is in grave danger, she left us after a battle some days ago and did not return. She was talking lunacy but I took it to be grief" Devae responded in a dry tone that Gimi would later learn to be distain.

"Can I do anything"

"I thank you master dwarf for your time but your service is insignificant" sighed the naira before walking off through the streets. Gimli huffed to himself but thought it better to warn someone of the naira wandering the paths, there would probably be a full scale hunt to execute the crown prince if he mentioned him to anyone; humans where though he hated to admit it, a little too cautious.

**  
  
**

* * *

"Hush little bird.

Don't go to war,

Don't fly where I can't follow.

The stars the sing us songs

Above the waves and lands afar.

Sleep little dove, cover your eyes,

This night will yet be yours"

Eruanna broke off the song she had learnt as a child and listened; she heard cold laughter in the distance and headed further away from it. Each tree had a small knife mark in it. To a mortal man it would not be visible but to those with better vision each mark on the tree gave a direction to the fort. She followed the steadily as the slopes at the foot of the mountain climbed. The leaves drowned out the sunlight which wrestled with the vines to cast a small shimmer through the awning. It became colder and darker; the trees became laced with threads and chimes. Spikes shot upward from the ground with pale skulls hammered onto them. The gate was near and so were the tunnels.

It seemed that she was no longer the only one to know about the city escape routes, there was a guard on the passageway but she dealt with him quickly and hid the remnants. After changing into his uniform and hiding her own she went back to the gate and commanded they open it. The slums of the city seemed to have shrunk in size; the smell was not so overpowering and the people seemed better fed. Children laughed and splashed around in the muddy puddles while their mothers cooked and their fathers laboured in their huts. Eruanna noticed the absence of soldiers and the wary glances she was cast. Once out of the slums there was the more common sight of houses of the middle class if there was such a class. Great street markets adorned the way, men and women shouting the prices of their wares. It was like something from harad. She walked over to a silk stand and inspected the wares.

"That is fine silk miss, indeed it is haradrim silk, the red would suit you best, bring out the colour in your cheeks" the young girl on the stand informed her.

"Forgive me for asking I have been away for a while. I did not realise we did business with the haradrim, why had everything changed so drastically?" she asked, running her fingers over the ruby threads.

"I'm not sure miss, we all woke up one morning and war was declared the next we were to give the poor some of our wares and support them as well as buy from our new allies. If you ask me, it don't feel safe without our elite guards round, rumour has it that the king had them executed. Even his niece and she was so young too, not to mention beautiful, such a waste of fine talent if you ask me but he's the king he can do what he likes and we all obey or we lose our heads, now I'll give you that for a copper, special offer as a welcome home gift" the girl rattled.

"It's very kind but I have no money" Eruanna sighed, reluctantly putting the fabric tunic back.

"Then you must take it, we can't have you wandering round in that armour all day, questions would be asked, take it and tell everyone that this is the best silk stand in the hole of the city" the girl insisted.

"I don't even know your name"

"My name is Flarece and I know who you are my lady, now go and do what needs to be done, I shall not keep you any longer, your secrets are safe with me" Flarece said pushing her back into the crowds.

She changed in a tavern nearby. The mithril rings fetched a good price and one of the younger smithies informed her of the king's whereabouts, she kept her regimental tunic, it was too hard to part with. The palace stood in the middle of a lake accessible only by boat. She changed her appearance before boarding. Black locks and red eyes combined with a silk tunic where all she needed to hide her identity, she looked but a serving girl of the king.

The ship set sail across the murky water, Eruanna recalled it had once been blue and clear, so blue that every fish below the ship was visible. Now it was a grey sludge. She set off in search of the palace kitchens. Fresh bread and soup cooked in fiery ovens and she snuck down a nearby passage to change back into her uniform, most of the palace would not question a soldier, no matter what regiment; even if it was supposed to be dead.

* * *

The plot had been laid out, in the candle lit cellars far below anyone's view they all sat round a table. They argued tirelessly about the king's favour and who should do the deed until one young woman stood up and declared that it was her duty to put a stop to the war and his maddening reign. She reminded them that she was the king's bodyguard and could easily get closest to him. Later when the siege began she sat beside her father as he worried for the safety of his family. Her fingers ran back and forth along her blade then the king called to him his closet soldiers. From a tray she stole a silver goblet of wine and sipped it as she walked, leaving it half full for her plan to work.

"Kill them. Kill them all, down to the last child" he bellowed. Eruanna had sliced the men to pieces and bolted the door. Still the king screamed "kill them all" as he retreated. Her knife found its way into his back and as he died he till spoke the words "kill them. Kill everyone." She cut away his head from his shoulders and threw it across the room. The steel doors were cast aside and her siblings found her standing over the headless body of their father. Her uncle had stepped up and sat upon the great throne. She had knelt before him.

"My king" she whispered, "I shall defend you till my last breath and no harm will come to you whilst I serve you."

Now she faced the door to the throne room again. A goblet in her hand she brought it to her king. Before him she knelt as he flipped through a book.

"A drink for my king."

The great brute snatched it from her and ordered her to stand in the corner. The queen cast her disgusted glance and excused herself. They were alone. The king slurped down the wine and continued to read. Eruanna slipped into the shadows and down the room to the door and quietly bolted it.

“Carlis. I need you.” Eruanna muttered under her breath.

In the pillars shadows grew as her regiment slipped into place as they always would. From his throne, the great king Asterion rose, his footsteps ringing out across the hall as he approached. Hidden behind the dark mass of hair, Eruanna smiled and nodded to the soldiers in the shadows as they turned to mist and slipped under the door.

The king reached her and with one rough hand cupped her chin, his eyes gleaming with a dangerous lust. Eruanna relinquished the magic that his her face, the curls becoming gold once more, her eyes turning a blooded red with hatred. Asterion flinched backwards. His eyes widened with terror.

“It’s your turn to go uncle.” Eruanna hissed softly, running her tongue across her teeth as her fangs extended.

The king drew his swords but Eruanna knocked it out of his hand with a sharp blow, leaping up to wrap her arms around his neck she sank her teeth deep into the bare flesh of his throat. There was a sharp pain up her spine. A blow to the back of her skull and she let go before bringing her leg round under the bother of her opponents, sending him onto his back. She kicked him. First in the ribs then in the groin before seizing the tunic collar, her eyes glowing gold as she summoned her powers to her. She twisted her hand on his rib cage, digging her nails into the flesh as her uncle fought against her hard, but an unseen force held him down and he began to scream for help.

Beyond the doors, the sound of swords against swords echoed but Eruanna ignored it, her focus was on the man beneath her.

“Remember my face uncle dearest” Eruanna murmured, digging her nails back into his chest and twisting slowly as her magic poured through her body, “Remember all the times you broke me? Its time we reversed that.”

There was a loud crack as his ribcage splintered and his bones began to snap under the force. Screams began to tear from his lips and Eruanna punched him hard across the face. in a flurry of blood and anger the king's face became a pulp, his body shattered and crumpled as Eruanna sank her hand deep into his chest. Low rasps escaped the nairas throat. Naira don't’ die easily. Her fingers gripped his heart and she smiled innocently, before wrenching hard. With a final cry of pain,king asterion died, leaving his pulsing heart in his young niece's hand.

Warm crimson trickled over her fingers and Eruanna smiled with satisfaction, gazin at the soft rhythmic thumping of the black organ. Its beats were so slow and yet mesmerising. She looked down at its owner and with a final blow to his head, scattered his brains across the stone floor. Smoothly, she made her way across to the throne. calmly she climbed the steps and picked up the gold band left there before settling into the seat. Without another thought she placed the crown upon her head and sank her teeth into the beating heart.

“Long live the queen.” She muttered, grinning to herself and blood oozed over her hand and onto the light marble of the steps.

The doors burst open with a loud clatter and Carlis strode in, her sword glittering by her side as it dripped crimson across the tiles. The lieutenant took one look at the corpse on the floor and the captain she had come to love and smiled.

“Congratulations my lady.”

“You helped” Eruanna answered grinning at her friend before throwing her the heart. “Come, share my my victory.”

The elder naira bowed and took a bite before returning the heart to its owner. From the shadows her brother emerged, clapping slowly. Eruanna sighed and descended the steps.

“Well done sister. You must be the only person ever to have killed two kings from your own family. Let's all celebrate.”

“You told me to be a soldier. This is what you wanted.” Eruanna snarled, her eyes meeting her brothers with defiance.

“I wanted my sister. Not this.” Devae sighed softly.All euphoria fell away and Eruanna let her shoulders slump. Upoin seeing his sister's face Devae pulled her into a hug. “I’m just glad you’re still alive… the crown looks good by the way. Its very you.”

“Perhaps my queen we should join the festivities in gondor now? To celebrate the end of a war… after all we were a part of it.”

Eruanna raised an eyebrow and folded her arms as she eyes up the innocent look upon Carlis’s face. A longing to see Legolas again filled her heart and she gave in with a long suffering sigh.

“Very well. Gather the horses.”

With a soft cheer of glee the woman vanished from the room in a cloud of smoke and Eruanna followed suit reluctantly with questions swimming in her mind.

* * *

As they rode out of the city, a sea of candles greeted them. Candles to mark the passing of one king and the descent of the new monarch. Along the main road people lined the way to throw garlands under her horses hooves but Eruanna felt nothing but guilt. Asterion had deserved to die but she had stolen the crown and the people were deceived. Let them be deceived. Let them have hope for a future.

Devae did not ride with them. He stayed behind and Eruanna knew she hadn’t yet forgiven her. For once, it hurt more than all the wounds ever inflicted. A dream of becoming queen with her brother at her side was slowly vanishing but as they reached the gate she saw him. Sitting on his dappled mare, a lazy smile on his face.

“When do I ever let you face an angry lover alone” He remarked when she questioned him. For once she allowed herself to laugh at her brothers joke, recalling the times she had defended him against enraged women whom he had lied to.

**  
Perhaps it won’t be so bad. Perhaps it will, only I can descover that.**


	41. A Reason To Celebrate

The white city was larger and grander than she remembered it but she remembered it when she had been at war. Its great battlements were adorned still with flowers and banners of the white tree. Pelenor fields where no longer muddied and stained with blood but the long grass was green and swaying softly in the wind. Eruanna climbed off her horse and wandered through it, leaving the rest of her company to chase after a rogue deer they had spotted. Her hands trailed through the smooth blades and she found herself laughing. She picked up the skirts of her dress and ran, loosening her plaited hair so the wind caught it. The horse nuzzled her and pushed her a few steps towards the city and her stomach knotted.

**  
  
**

"What if he has forgotten me?" she whispered, rubbing her velvet nose. The mare snorted in apparent amusement and trotted a few paces. Her feet chased after it contrary to what her heart and head wanted. She grabbed its reigns and slowed it back to a walk. She squinted against the sun, up on the walls she saw the glint of armour and flags fluttering in the breeze. The horse stopped and began to munch on the grass so she sat beside it and studied the city.

"If this where a battle plan I would go round the side where the rock is weakest, but the main gate is open and it looks terribly inviting" she murmured, rummaging in her satchel for an apple. Once she found one she began to cut pieces of and share it with the mare, it crunched on it loudly and she laughed before biting into the bitter fruit.

"I think I need to be brave and go through the front" she declared; the horse grunted. "I know bravery is stupidity but I think this time a bit of it necessary. I'm not having some elleth steal away the one I love." With that she clambered back into the saddle, shouted for her friends to follow before turning the horse towards the gates.

* * *

Legolas had begun to grow bored of stone walls and the unfamiliar sounds that the city brought. He longed for the forest once more, he stood now beneath the white tree watching Gimli gaze intently across the grasslands. His friend had seemed troubled of late and he had no notion as to why. He assumed it was because Aragorn had banned him from the kitchens but he knew the dwarf would not give in so easily.

"Gimli" he called. The dwarf looked up and wandered over, glancing back at the walls every now and then. "What troubles you so, you have been so distant of late." Gimli smiled and pulled him back to the wall.

"You said to me that we would see that naira again within a week of the rings destruction. It's been almost a month, on top of that I met with her brother about two weeks ago and he had no idea of where she was, I am merely worried that something's happened to her." Legolas felt his throat tighten and he gripped the edge of the wall, the dwarf patted his arm sympathetically.

"I'm sorry lad, I didn't mean to upset you."

"It's fine Gimli, perhaps it is better this way." He found it difficult to read the dwarfs expression but he thought he saw disbelief mixed with several other emotions. Legolas turned away from the fields, searching for her had proven futile so he preferred not to look at them. The dwarf continued straining his eyes then he shook him.

"Can you see that?" he asked, leaning further over the wall.

"It will be a patrol" Legolas sighed, pulling him away from the edge. A few days ago the dwarf had said the same thing and they had both hoped it to her Eruanna but when they reached the gates it had been Faramir returning early from a hunt.

**  
  
**

This riders however were going at a faster pace than that of a returning patrol, their horses eating up the ground and dark hoods shielding their faces from the sunlight. The riders drew nearer and Legolas found himself hoping again that one of them could be her, they were wearing similar clothing, their banner was the same as her tattoo. It was possible.

"Come on lad, we'll go look."

Reluctantly he allowed himself to be dragged to the bottom of the city by the dwarf. Men were shouting and running to the gates swords drawn as they frantically shut them. Women fled the market place leaving spilled fruit to roll across the market floor. Gimli hurried over to one of the soldiers, dragging Legolas with him.

“Whats all the fuss for?”

“Naira!” the man exclaimed, “they are trying to take the city.”

Legolas allowed himself to hope and he looked down to his friend who was holding back his laughter. There was a loud crack before the doors blew off their hinges. The soldiers put up their shield wall and Gimli planted his feet squarely to brace the impact, gripping his axe tightly. The elf notched an arrow to his bow but did not raise it.

From the smoke they came riding. Their horses easily jumping the shield wall and the laughter and call calls that followed were almost deafening. With the crashing of thunder the horses came to a halt. Legolas’s heart stopped. At the head of the group sat Eruanna. Grinning with wild innocence as she leant on her horse's neck as the beast caught its breath. Upon her head was a silver band, a large ruby in the centre, her hair framing the deep red of her eyes that drew attention away from the cuts and bruises across her face. Flanking her were two others. Her brother and a woman he had never seen before, her eyes watched everyone with a threatening edge.

“I’ll kill her” Gimli breathed, Legolas sighed, shaking his head before calling out to her.

**  
  
  
**

* * *

The sound of her name brought the adrenaline rush down and she let her smile fade. Across from her two familiar faces, one wielding an axe with a face more terrifying than all the soldiers she had faced; the other, so pale and worn out. That face was more spooky than the first.

Spurring her horse over to them she circled them, the clatter of hooves behind told her that Carlis was following closely.

“Eruanna…”

“That queen Eruanna elf…” Carlis muttered under her breath, Eruanna shook her head and ignored the comment, turning her attention to Gimli.

“If I get down… will you be removing my ankles or my knees?”

“Yer head!” Gimli snapped, gripping his axe more tightly, his eyes glowing with mirth.

“Only if you're fast enough.” She quipped back, the dwarf began to chuckle so she slipped from her horse, ordering the others to do the same. Turning her attention to Legolas she merely smiled, her eyes not meeting his as she shifted under his cold gaze. Reluctantly she made her eyes meet his and a knife twisted in her gut as she saw the sorrow hidden there.

“I’m sorry I took so long.”

The elf nodded curtly, his eyes narrowing. Why was he so angry? Then she caught sight of her reflection. She was smeared in blood still, there was a deep gash running across her nose. Then there where the stitches. They had been in a fight in a tavern on the road to gondor. Having drunk too much her movements had been slow and she had almost lost an eye. Someone had also taken the liberty to shave one side of her hair while she slept as a good natured joke. She’d forgotten she was still wearing their teeth as a necklace.

“You seemed to have enjoyed yourself.”

The reply almost stung with the bitterness it contained. Eruanna rolled her eyes and removed the teeth from around her neck handing them to Carlis who stood beside her in her ever resolute fashion.

“As a matter of fact it was an experience that I won't forget. I can’t say I had fun.”

“With that many bruises, I’d say you were pillaging every village you came to.” Gimli muttered.

“Yes Gimli, and I stole you a collection of axes in the process.“ Eruanna remarked sarcastically, keeping her eyes on her lover. The dwarf grunted and lowered his axe leaning on it before his attention turned to Legolas. With the flat side of his axe he smacked the elf in the shin with a resounding thwack that startled him out of the brooding stare enough for him to mutter some very colourful curses under his breath. Beside her Carlis covered her mouth to hide the laughter that was struggling to escape.

“Lad, you might as well speak to her before she goes gallivanting off into the undergrowth, never to be seen again.” The dwarf advised gently after Legolas had finished insulting his ancestors.

“I think you will find I do not galavant, that would be far too noticeable.” Eruanna remarked softly, giving Gimli a wink of amusement. The elf opened his mouth then closed it and before she could say another word she was trapped in a breath quenching hug. “Legolas- I might not need to breath but I did get half my ribcage kicked in and this wont be helping it heal.”

The elf released her hurriedly before planting a soft kiss on her lips.

“You’re both revolting.” Carlis announced, though her eyes glimmered with amusement. Legolas narrowed his eyes at the lieutenant and Eruanna pushed him backwards before there was a fight for her loyalty.

“Which way is the food?” Devae called out from the arms of two woman he had already seduced.

“Food” Legolas asked softly.

“They think there's a feast… I didn’t have the heart to tell them that they’ve probably missed it.” Eruanna answered.

“Well.. we need an occasion for a feast.” Gimli mused, giving Legolas a knowing glance, “and I have a perfect one.”

With some confusion Eruanna looked from the dwarf to the elf. Legolas smiled and kissed her forehead, before taking her hands in his.

“I know we have already been here and you don’t have to say yes this time to spare my feelings… but, would you, Eruanna, do me the honour of marrying me? I would be greatly honoured to have you agree to spend eternity with me, if not, then you have my heart regardless.”

For a moment the air seemed cold and she froze, remembering the panic the last time the question was raised. Then a new feeling of warmth engulfed her and she threw herself into his arms, laughing at the confusion on his face.

“Is that a yes?” Legolas whispered in her ear.

**  
“Yes… this time, I fully mean it. Yes.”**


	42. Wedding

When the day came she was woken early by Carlis who insisted on helping her bathe and dress. She stumbled out of bed and over to the window while the naira poured hot water into a steel tub. It was warm and the sun shone across the green fields, the maid finished and pulled her over to the water and commanded she get in.

"I am capable of washing myself." Carlis merely laughed and handed her the sponge as she slipped into the tepid water to scrub away the dirt, "Will you bring me a glass of wine?" The woman nodded and left her alone. Eruanna closed her eyes for a moment before a crash from round the corner broke the momentary bliss. She clambered out of the water and dried herself, before slowly edging over the mirror to inspect the scars across her body, a sick feeling in her stomach brewing as her eyes fell on the revealing dress. When her lieutenant returned and handed her the bottle, Eruanna was almost relieved. The wine was dry and bland tasting but it dulled her nerves.

"Here, I had your brother choose it, it will be okay, won't it?" Carlis said, scooping up the dress. Eruanna nodded, before strapping a knife to her leg with grim determination. "I don't think that's quite the right thing to wear at your own wedding... "

"If nothing else this marriage is great political strategy that will secure trading as well as my position of power alongside my brother. Others will recognize this and I need to be ready for an attack." Carlis raised an eyebrow and began to dress her up in soft silks, letting out the occasional sharp sigh that told her captain exactly what she thought of the event. “I need more wine.” Eruanna muttered sullenly, looking down at the empty goblet.

Carlis snorted with amusement and obeyed her request before settling down beside her. Eruanna looked to her reflection and traced the faint scar on her cheek, then remembered the countless others she carried once more. Disgusted she turned away from the glass and wandered back over to the window. It was to be a large blessing ceremony, with many of her people attending as well as some elves who had remained to help with restoring the city. She found herself fiddling nervously with the hem of the lace sleeve until Carlis took her hands.

"As you are my leader and my commander there is nothing I can do to stop you, however as a someone who I have fought and bled for, who is the nearest thing I have to a sister, I would ask you to think upon why you are marrying him." Carlis began, "For a few minutes stop thinking like a politician and a soldier, stop thinking logically. Do you really think you are ready for this?"

Eruanna looked up and into the ancient red iris's of her comrades eyes, before glancing at herself in the mirror to a face she barely knew; "I love him Carlis, and maybe this whole thing is rushed and is completely foolish but if I marry him, at least I remain my own person, I get to keep my titles and my land and I will not belong to some pathetic nobleman's son who cannot see past his pampered lifestyle to the well being of those less fortunate. At some point, I have to marry. As the leader of our people in all but name, I need a legitimate heir, but I do not want to be chained to someone I hate for that to happen; this marriage grants me a little bit of freedom... but, I will enter it as my true self and not as a someone dressed up to be something they are not. Please fetch my armor, from what you have told me, marriages are far more dangerous battles than most and I should like to be ready."

There was a look of almost approval on the elder niara's face mixed closely with that of quiet humor as Eruanna peeled off the gown and tightened her armored corset round her waist. Carlis settled down in the chair, handing her pieces of armor when asked but remaining quiet for the most part as was her way. 

 

When redressed, Eruanna let out a small relaxed breath, her black armor with her regiments crest almost seemed a part of her very skin. Calm washed over her and she put the goblet of wine down on the dresser before she tied her hair away from her face, feeling as though nothing could touch her at last, She felt powerful.  _How I've missed this feeling..._

 **"** Carlis my old friend. I think its time." Eruanna stated, a small flicker of a smile passing across her lips. At the same moment a serving girl timidly knocked on the door and Eruanna turned, gritting her teeth as her brother entered wearing a flamboyant purple tunic, his hair neatly braided with a gold circlet adorning his dark sandy hair.

“Come little sister, you don't want to be late for the greatest day of your life...”

 "That tunic is going to ruin my day" Eruanna muttered softly to Carlis as they made their way out of the room, Carlis nodded and clicked her fingers. Davae's tunic molded shape into a rich velvet, so dark that the fabric almost rippled. The crown prince scowled, before checking his reflection to comb his hair once more before the Carlis dragged him from the room towards the ceremony.

The sunlight was far brighter than she expected and she had to squint to adjust to it. The ceremony hall was filled with people from all walks of life, some rich some poor but everywhere there where smiles. Eruanna forced a smile as she walked up the middle, her eyes resting on the small portion of her regiment who'd stayed with Carlis. Several of them bowed while those she was closer to, tried to hide their amusement by pulling their masks over their mouths. The room was full of flowers of all sorts, so much so that the air was thick with the smell and the colour was so bright Eruanna struggled to focus one spot. In the center of the room, there was an archway, made of ivy and red rose buds. Devae looked over at his sister before taking her arm and marching her up to it as she did her best to disguise her scowl.

Gandalf stood in front of her, still a little bitter about the entire idea but she ignored it, fiddling with the laces of her gauntlet and tugging at the clasp of her breastplate. Gimli sidled up to her and grinned as Aragorn entered.

"I told our ranger friend you'd be dressed in armor but would he believe me?" The dwarf answered as she gave him a questioning look, "He now has to give me first choice of deserts."

Eruanna smiled and attempted a small curtsy to Aragon before her brother elbowed her in the ribs. **  
**

"I thought the bride was supposed to be late?" Eruanna whispered to her brother. The king smiled and nodded to where the fellowship burst through laughing before taking their places. Pippin smiled meekly to one of her bodyguards who sat flexing his muscles in boredom. Eruanna caught sight of Frodo. He looked so pale and worn out, there was a fear in his eyes she knew well. Her attention focused on the lines across his face, the circles under his eyes and she glimpsed for a moment the future he had ahead of him. They had known it would cost him much even his life, but to live in the way he would was cruel. The doors burst open hurriedly, the crashing sound echoing round the building and Legolas walked in very calmly and very late. Dressed in cool silver silk he looked more angelic than she would have liked. He took her hand and kissed her cheek, murmuring an apology for his delay.

"In the eyes of Iluvatar the creator we are gathered here to bless a rather odd union" Gandalf began, Legolas smiled at the added detail and Eruanna glowered at the wizard who smirked, giving her a small wink, knowing his jab had hit its mark.

"Legolas son of Thranduil, do you swear to cherish and love this woman to the best of your ability?" The wizard asked him, handing him a small ring.

"I swear." The prince murmured, slipping the silver band onto her finger. Her heart fluttered with dread and she saw Legolas smile in an effort to reassure her before he took her hands in hers, Devae growled slightly and she kicked him as a warning, forcing herself to smile.

"Eruanna, princess of Termoree, Daughter of Amaranth, do you vow to honour and love this elf with all your heart?" She froze, and looked at the cool blue eyes, her betrothed nodded reassuringly.

"I promise." she mumbled, without uncertainty but no small amount of nerves, handing the ring that was to be her jail, to Legolas who was beaming with delight.

"By the power given to me by the valar, I bless this union and all that may come from it, in the sight of the valar, the family and friends of the pair and the couple themselves." Gandalf finished. Legolas pulled her into a gentle kiss as their friends clapped, she sighed in relief, enjoying being partly out of the spotlight once again.

"Let the feasting begin!" Devae cheered launching himself at the doors to the food hall. Eruanna laughed as the hobbits who had looked impatent throughout the ceremony rushed away in hot pursuit of her brother, to where the party had already commenced.

"You look interesting." Legolas murmured, running his fingers through a stray piece of hair.

"I figured tradition was something we where already breaking" Eruanna answered dryly as he raised an eyebrow. She watched him smile and she kissed his cheek before they followed the others to the feasting hall.

There was roast boar and stewed rabbit. Plies of venison and mutton and the best wine she had ever tasted but she didn't have the stomach for much of it. Night was drawing near and the real wedding with it. After the entertainment began she excused herself and went back to her chamber. Calmly she slipped out of her armor and into a light shirt and Carlis brought in a tray with a jug of wine with two goblets and handed her one.

"Shall we get as drunk as possible before the men figure we are gone?" Eruanna asked after the third glass as her friend sipped her first. 

 

"I'm going to assume this is because your husband isn't aware of all your nightly activities in our city.” Carlis answered, pausing for a moment. "Unless you decided to tell him about the orgys you used to enjoy visiting...”

“I fear he would greatly disapprove” Eruanna muttered, sipping on the wine until her friend took it from her. The lock clicked and both women looked towards the door. “Carlis, will you grant me a favor.”

“Anything you wish” Carlis answered without much hesitation.

“Keep Devae occupied tonight.”

“A difficult task” Carlis murmured, grinning softly.

“I do not doubt your skills.” Eruanna replied, training her eyes on mirror as the door opened so as not to seem to interested.In the looking glass she saw Legolas reflection lean against the wall, he smiled shyly. Carlis cast a glance between them, a courteous smile flickering across her lips, and took her leave with a mock bow.

Legolas gingerly wanderer over, bending and kissing too her cheek lightly before going over to the decanter wine to pour himself a glass. And another. And another. After the third, Eruanna got up out of her chair, making Legolas turn to face her.He put the glass back on the tray, and Eruanna did not miss the way his fingers trembled about the lip of the glass but smiled as she wrapped her arms round his neck, brushing a tread of silvery hair behind his ear. He looked down at her tentatively before taking a steadying breath and ducked his head, his lips brushed hers. He stopped abruptly, pulling back, a sudden flicker of embarrassment upon his face.

 

"Are you afraid?" she murmured, gently taking his hands, "We don't have to do this now. We have time."

 

“No, I want to.” Legolas argued, giving her a nervous kiss on the lips.

"Then let me lead" she murmured, pulling him gently over to the bed, placing light kisses over his lips. Legolas followed tentatively, looking all as inexperienced as she knew him to be.  _He might be one of mirkwood's finest soldiers but I doubt any of them have ever seen him this vulnerable._ She pushed him lightly onto the bed before settling herself astride in his lap to unfasten his shirt between soft kisses. Legolas returned them nervously at first, his hands loosely resting on her hips as she steadily deepened their kiss, she moved to discard his shirt and he tensed. An idea formed in her mind and with a wicked grin she pulled away and slipped from the bed, enjoying the sudden look of confusion she received.

The look slowly turned to another as she removed her shirt to reveal her bare self in the candlelight. Legolas's ears turned a delicate shade of pink and he lowered his eyes and she began to giggle.

"Legolas meleth, you can look, anyone might think you'd never seen a female naked before" Eruanna teased, settling herself on the edge of the bed, kissing his cheek despite the dirty look he gave her. "I am your wife, my lips aren't the only thing you can kiss now."

Legolas raised his eyes with an almost playful smile as he seemed to loose some of his fear and he lent into kiss her, his hands now cautiously running their way over her ribs,  the gentleness of her husband’s touch sparked a something that smothered any of her own fears, and she deepened the kiss as she pressed herself closer, straddling his legs with more determination. Desire began to fill her and her body heated up, coiling in her stomach.  

Legolas lifted her into his arms and moved her further onto the bed so that her head rested on the pillows, placing his lips upon hers as he nestled himself between her thighs. She wrapped her legs around his waist, enjoying the silk of his tunic brushing her inner thigh. The elf began to trail heated kisses down her neck, his hands lowering themselves to her breasts, fingers beginning to explore her body. While first his touches had been tentative and unsure; her soft whimpers encouraged him to continue as his lips reached lower, and his ministrations more determined. 

Eruanna pulled him back up to her lips, kissing her way to his ear and pulling on his earlobe with her teeth before biting the sensitive spot in his neck. Legolas groaned softly as her nails grazed his back as his lips on her breasts eliciting soft whimpers with his teeth that sent waves of desire through her. Suddenly and despite her breathlessness and protests, her prince steadily eased off his affections and momentarily gazed upon her. His deep blue eyes running across every inch of her body.

"Does my prince approve of his new bride?" Eruanna murmured, stretching out teasingly.

Her husband smiled and nodded before lowering himself once more into her arms. Drawing ragged breaths and filled with desire she tugged away his creased shirt and discarded it, pulling him into a deep kiss. Eruanna traced the soft toned frame of his chest, nipping his bare shoulders with her teeth and drawing a soft cry from him. His kisses became more tender and affectionate before he stopped; confused she kissed his shoulder in protest, whining with the loss of warmth, her heart racing with nervous excitement. The prince gave her a wicked grin and began to move his hands lower till the reached her intimate areas. He stopped then, kissing her quickly on the lips before his mouth followed his hands. Looking up from his kisses between her thighs, Legolas paused, smiling gently at her as she blushed. 

"Do you trust me?" he whispered, nuzzling her thigh. Eruanna frowned, sitting up to watch him in mild fascination.

Legolas smiled, his eyes reflected the shyness she suddenly felt, reminding her that he was totally new to the whole thing. _Certainly doesn't feel that way._

"Stop teasing me elf" she growled impatiently, feeling her eyes change colour to what she assumed was a dark blood red. Legolas smiled, lowering his head to nip her inner thigh then placing a chaste kiss upon her sex, he began to tease her. A soft moan tore from her lips and she tangled her fingers into the bed covers as he slid one finger into her. Despite her pleas he went slowly, murmuring to her in his own language, teasing out her pleasure as she writhed under him, her grip on the sheets tightening as her arousal became a raging torrent of fire and his fingers and tongue devastated her composure.With a loud cry, Eruanna felt her body explode and she heard her husband give a small laugh of delight before his lips claimed hers once again. His soft skin brushed her now slightly sore nipples and she groaned into his neck as he rubbed the silk of his breeches against her aching sex. Eruanna helped him out of the leggings and kicked them to the discarded pile of clothing.

Sighing contentedly she wrapped her legs around him as his fingers danced over her body and his kisses became much softer than the fierce ones earlier. She could feel him pressing against her and it was becoming harder to think straight, her lust consuming her. Her husband carfully positioned himself and kissed her deeply; she moaned as Legolas pressed into her. Eruanna grimaced in pain, biting her lips with the effort of not flinching but her husband froze, allowing her to become accustomed to the new feeling as he whispered soft apologies for any discomfort. _Just when you thought you couldn't love him more_.  Patently he allowed her to catch her breath as he nuzzled her neck and breast, moaning quietly as she pulled him further into her heat, her fingers sending sparks through his body as she ran them over the faint muscle lines of his torso.

He gazed at her from his position, supported by his arms he thought her the most perfect thing in the world. Her soft pants as he rocked himself inside of her ignited a ferocious passion within him and he moved a little faster, enjoying the feeling of her hands gripping his upper arms as he thrusted into her, her legs wrapped tightly round his waist, clinging to him, urging him to go faster. The feeling of her nails raking down his back brought out a loud groan from his throat and he kissed her fearcly, slipping his hand between them to entice more enjoyment from her.

Eruanna had underestimated how much elvish stamina Legolas had, after her fourth climax she moved him onto his back, gazing into his eyes as he held her hips, a thin sheen of sweat across his face, cries of ‘Eruanna’ and ‘meleth’ escaping him. She twined her fingers with him, increasing the intimacy between them as she looked deep into her eyes, whimpering as her whole body prepared for another wave. This time she knew he was close, his moans were becoming more strangled as he struggled to catch his breath and without warning he flipped her onto her back again, his hair falling around her like woven sunlight as he planted a firm kiss, his hips grinding against hers out of rhythm as he began to moan over and over as her climax hit. She called out his name and felt his hips still as his whole body trembled, a long soft groan escaping him. Eruanna smiled up at him, running her hand through her slick hair as he slumped into her arms, burying his face in her neck with a grunt of satisfaction. 

Running her fingers down his sweat covered back she giggled happily, brushing a hand through his tousled hair as he kissed her, still flushed and panting, resting his forehead on hers as he recovered. Rolling off reluctantly, her pulled her it his warm chest to hold her. Eruanna sighed with delightedly, kissing him delicately before settling down to rest, her beloved tracing a tattoo on her arm lazily as he lay back in a happy daze. 

His lips brushed her again, this time filled with a soft loving quality and he smiled as she blushed, tracing her jaw with one callous finger. She copied, following the outline of his ear, the aftermath of their consummation becoming tender. Legolas shivered as her fingertips brushed the point of his ear and pressed his lips to hers, contentedly murmuring sweet words that she could not understand but for once it did not matter. 

“Eruanna…” he mumbled, she looked up at him through sleepy lashes as he placed an innocent kiss on her lips. The kiss contained all the adoration he felt for her and she smiled drowsily at him, her cheeks glowing a light shade of pink.

“I love you, my flame.”

“I love you too.” Eruanna mumbled, snuggling herself up in the sheets, torn amidst the throes of their love. Her lovers steady breathing sent her to sleep. 

She lay in the tangled sheets sleeping in her haphazard way, one eye half open. He lay contentedly beside her. His fingers traced the silver scars that zigzagged up her back in military formation, clearly the work of a lash. They weren't the only ones, but they were the worst. He remembered her embarrassment the night before when he had seen them and insisted she was beautiful. She wriggled onto her side and into his chest and he enjoyed the coolness of her skin. Her eyelids fluttered open and she glowered at him for admiring her wounds.

 

"Where did you get this one?" he asked.

 

"Battle of Ezu when I was fifteen, that one on my hip I got when I was thirty when my company was attacked and Carlis almost died" she responded drowsily. He kissed her and she spotted the thin puckered skin on his shoulder.

 

"What's this?" she asked kissing the mark. 

"Arrow wound, at the Battle for Erebor…" he sighed, he wrapped her fingers into his and she curled up in his arms. "Go back to sleep love, we are travelling to Rohan later."

She nestled back in his embrace and lay still for a while. When he was certain she was asleep he went back to tracing the thin scars and wondering about the story behind them. He knew how difficult it was for her to talk about it, so he didn't press her but part of  him still wanted to know.It seemed to be growing late in the day so he bathed and dressed before wrapping the sheets around his sleeping wife.

 

"My wife…" He murmured softly, kissing her cheek, she smiled in her relaxed slumber.

 

Once he was certain she wouldn't wake, he rose and dressed, casting one last look at the angelic face that rested in the bed before leaving the room to walk in the morning air.


	43. What I Did Not

When Legolas returned he brought breakfast with him and she sat wolfing down the smoked fish whilst he sat watching, a flicker of glee playing across his lips.

 

"You seem cheerful this morning; it is a rare thing for you to be so content so early" he informed her when she demanded an answer to the smile he could not be rid of.

 

"I am happy because we are married" she retorted, "no one can take you from me. You're all mine." Legolas laughed, rather more than she had first expected and she found herself regretting her words.

 

"You are the most selfish creature I have ever met" he remarked, getting up from his seat and kissing her nape.

 

"Do you mind?" she whispered, pretending to look guilty.

 

"I like a challenge" he purred, stealing some of the fruit of her plate. She finished her meal which was a little overcooked for her taste before allowing him to lead her out into the fresh air.

 

The day was cold and there was little sun to be seen, the stone walls only lessened what warmth there was. King Théoden had been laid to rest but the company had not yet paid their respects and so they were travelling to Edoras before journeying home. She spied a small curly haired figure peering out over the walls and left her husband's side.

 

"Not with your friends?" Frodo looked up and shook his head.

 

"Sometimes I think they do not understand and I come here to be alone." The open prairies that surrounded the city now had people farming them and she saw in the halfling a desire for a simple life once more.

 

"The things we see change us; make us better or worse people. You did something many thought would be impossible. Your friends may not understand but it is up to you to help them to do so."

 

"How would you know? You were trained for war… I was thrown into one" Frodo argued. She pitied him and yet she was angered by his unwillingness to take her advice.

 

"Yet I think congratulations are in order. I underestimated you.” Eruanna answered, “I shall tell you something that may help you…”

 

 

“There are times where I wake up from a nightmare and find another one waiting for me in consciousness. I may had been trained for war but I was not made for it, I see the same thing happening to you Frodo, you take yourself away from others because what you have seen will not leave you be and neither will their concern." The halfling smiled and looked down at his feet, the curly mass hiding his face.

 

"What should I do?" he asked at length.

 

"What I did not, speak more openly about it and if not to your friends to an elf, they are good listeners and are not quick to judge, though someone you trust is more advisable" she counselled.

 

"I never thought I would be talking to you about trusting others" he laughed. They talked for some time about the events that had taken place and she listened to him about his home and the peaceful surroundings he had to go back to. He inquired about her home but it made her feel sick and hollow inside at the mention of Termoree; the white shores and snow-capped mountains, the clear blue and green lakes and rivers that her eyes would never again see. Frodo asked her to describe what it was like and she tired in detail until she could no longer go on. Anger and panic rose inside of her torso, pressing against her ribs as if she would implode; she stopped abruptly and excused herself before running back to her chamber, rage filling her heart.

 

 

When Frodo came to find him, he was attempting unsuccessfully to teach Gimli to speak some elvish. The young hobbit looked fearful and began in stumbling words to explain what had happened. When he asked where she had gone Frodo pointed them the in general direction. It was Gimli who found her. He came puffing and panting back up the steps before leading him back to his bed chamber. The curtains had been torn from their rails and feathers fluttered down from the shredded pillows. Red smeared down the stone pillars and his heart tightened in his chest and he peered into the bathroom. Pieces of mirror littered the ground; wine stained the white towels that had been ripped to shavings. Legolas stepped tentatively into the room ordering Gimli to wait outside as he did so. The shards of glass crunched under his boots as he stepped closer to where she was curled up. Her face buried in her legs as she sobbed bitterly. Her hands and feet bled from crawling over the glass but she still cradled a bottle of wine in her hand. He wanted to pull her into his arms and soothe her but she hissed at him and crawled further away.

 

"Eruanna… it's me, put the bottle down." She giggled drunkenly before her laughter dissolved into pathetic sobs. He took a step closer and crouched down, she snatched at a shard of glass, gripping it in her hands until it sunk deep into her palm. The bottle was raised back to her mouth and she downed what was left of it before smashing it furiously on the ground. Uncertainty made him stop and consider his options before he got up and sat next to her. She smiled at him through watery eyes and rested her head on his shoulder. Legolas didn't move; he resisted putting his arm around her for fear that she might lash out. Gimli poked his head round the door before hurriedly retreating as she hurled a shard of glass at him screaming.

 

He saw her stop suddenly and freeze, staring fixatedly at the opposite wall then she let out a sharp breath and looked down at her hands and over at him. Her eyes rested back on the glass and she began slowly to clear it up, letting her hair hide her face from view.

 

"I'm sorry."

 

His heart stopped in his chest and he looked up to see her looking over at him. He held out his hand to her and she obediently sat in front of him. Her eyes where filled with same and he watched as she tugged at a loose thread on her tunic. Gingerly he took her hand and reached for a cloth to bathe it with. She didn't move but looked away from him to avoid his gaze. Gimli had returned but he had returned with a healer who insisted on checking her.

 

"What's wrong with her?" his friend asked the young woman once she had finished.

 

"I don't know…" was the response Gimli received to which the dwarf grumbled immensely.

 

Eruanna gave a soft sigh and lay back on the bed, before letting out a whimper. It pained to see her in such a state and he sat beside her, she smiled up at him faintly before pulling at the bandages that now covered her wrists.

 

"It's going to be okay mellemin" he murmured kissing her forehead.

 

"Nothing will ever be okay, it never has been" she answered turning away from him and closing her eyes despondently. He began to feel despair creeping into his heart but he pushed it away.

 

"I won't believe it" he told himself, "I can't."

 

It seemed Eruanna had not heard him and reluctantly he laid beside her. From her lips her voice began to whisper a chant he had once heard his father sing and he continued the song when she stopped. Legolas found the song lifting a small weight in her heart and she sighed in relief.

If the entire world was made with gold

I'd trade it for you, my love,

If the entire world was to be doomed

I'd spend the days left with you

When the mists turn blue

and the skies purple

when all the stars lose sight

My heart will still be yours my dear.

We will tumble on a bed of leaves

or ride across the silken spray

Beyond this moment of discord the oceans whisper,

And after the rain of evening your lover wanders

Under a cloudless sky of twilight of which the poets speak

_Of the lagoon of memory the words I forgive you and_

_Ask only one thing: return soon my love,_

_Return from the darkened dreams and saddened places_

_Return from the wild waves and restless fires,_

_Return to me and my heart once more._

 


	44. Homeward Bound

Betrayed we were by our little saviour for she turned from love, only for a while. She is the demon of all children's dreams and now her dreams will suffer. She killed our king, our beloved sovereign. Her uncle she bled too. With icy hate and fire in her heart, her love it ruined us all. Traitor we will call them who followed her and butchered us in our beds. Killer we will cry as her brother takes the throne, with her by his side, joint in their false monarchy. We must sail home to our lands of old; past waters red and black. Past the corpses of a thousand dead because of a few words she said. We will never belong in middle earth or be accepted in those lands and we shall have a fertile land for peace and life again, our wars and purpose ended. Love it seems has killed us all; her heart was weak to resist, she will not come home with us to restore what once was. We no longer have the power to save our war torn homeland nor find a new land to survive in. We are the dying breed that legend will forget.

The word 'wife' still seemed strange and unfamiliar to Eruanna but Legolas insisted on calling her it at every opportunity and she called him husband back though the word was foreign on her tongue. Despite the grim grey morning and the events that had taken place earlier that day the sun had risen from its bed and her spirits with it. From her horse she saw the destruction being whipped from the lands, blackened crops being re-sewn, houses being rebuilt; just as Théoden had predicted but he was no longer around to see it. She felt Legolas's warm breath tickle her neck as he kissed her and she elbowed him in the ribs. She caught him winking at the dwarf and both of them began to laugh cheerfully. On a different day she would have demanded to know what they found so amusing but she still felt unsteady and already she decided she didn't want to know.

They passed through small villages filled with joyful smiling faces, some waved and some handed flowers to Aragorn while children ran after them laughing. Then under a tree there stood a dark figure, darkness liquefied around the hooded body. Eruanna twisted her head to get a better look and the figure raised a hand but there was only bone. She squealed and flinched away, the face was half melted by what seemed a burning flame but what remained was a face she knew and loved. The figure followed as the jet smoke wheeled around its feet, hissing. Then screams began to fill the air and Eruanna covered her ears. When they passed out of the village the figure stood on the edge of it before vanishing. She kept trying to see it but there was nothing.

"My love, what's the matter? You look like you've seen a ghost." She looked up at the elf whose eyes were filled with worry and she kissed him reassuringly.

"Nothing, just one of the children startled me that's all… they looked like someone I knew." Satisfied Legolas went back to his conversation and left her to her thoughts. It suddenly occurred to her that once they had reached Edoras they would be heading for Mirkwood and a very unhappy king Thranduil.

"Legolas…" she began.

"Yes mellemin."Legolas answered, Eruanna paused to choose her next words carefully. "Your father… he will not like our union, perhaps we should warn him beforehand that you have married rather than my turning up and getting thrown into his dungeons, though that might happen anyway." She could feel his muscles tense and he remained silent for some time, she began to wonder if she had offended him when he relaxed and kissed her cheek. "Is that a yes?" she murmured.

"No, I know my father; it will be wiser to say nothing until we arrive besides I want to surprise him."

"Are you sure you won't anger him?" He laughed and wrapped an arm around her waist.

"My love he will be furious but he cannot undo what has been done, even he does not have the power to separate our souls now." Her cheeks flushed at the forwardness and she heard him chuckle.

"Do I embarrass you meleth?" he asked.

"I am just a little unused to this, I'll get used to it eventually" she replied absentmindedly, her eyes resting on something that stood by the road.

The woman in the road stood staring ahead, her hands and feet bound in shackles. Wild red eyes staring straight ahead; golden hair semi-braided in tribal plats half covering the bared fangs and scarred cheeks as she ran at the company before the chains restrained her and she screamed silently, Eruanna recoiled as they past and the girl looked up at her.

"Help me" the thing whispered, tilting her head like an animal studying a potential victim. She then blinked and there was nothing to see but a dusty track with nothing on it; all there was to hear was the laughter of men and horses hoof beats on the rocky terrain. Confused and unnerved she kept quiet about the familiar faces that haunted her. Keeping her eyes to the ground and her hands woven into the horse's mane for comfort, she saw no more spectres on the road. That face she had seen once in a pool not so long ago before the ripples of the water had changed it back. Her husband's grip suddenly tightened on her belly and she glanced up. Crows hopped along the roadside and she looked away, screwing her eyes up tightly.

It seemed as though everyone was traveling as they met many traders and merchants as well as other walkers who were headed to rohan for the same reason. So many stories were told and heard that by the time they reached the city the young hobbits were on the brink of setting out on more adventures. Eruanna couldn't deny that it sounded a wonderful idea but knew she had other matters to attend to first.

Théoden had been laid beside his son and the flowers had begun to grow on his tomb. His nephew had begun settling into his reign as king despite the usual problems such changes may have incurred. Eruanna found the man changeable at the best of times and did everything in her power to avoid him. He had already expressed a disliking for her and she thought it best not to worsen this ill will. Merry and Pippin spent most of their time telling the other hobbits of their escapades around the city while her other comrades occupied themselves with tasks that were needed to be completed. It had seemed so long since she had been alone and she welcomed it, a few moments to breath in the crisp air without the weight of others watching was a joyful thing. Had it not been for the spikes of the outer walls with their black feathered residents she would have thought the citadel almost beautiful now that the changes the new king brought had been put in place.

The feast that evening was far beyond any expectations, great boars and deer were served alongside many other rare delicacies and in the end even the hobbits couldn't eat much. Once the wine had been drunk and the ale brought out in its place the men began to sing songs of their kings and the greatness that their race endured. Eruanna sat listening painfully aware of her own kind's failures before she could stand it no longer and excused herself. She burst out of the hall forcing away the suppressed tears that stung her eyes. Every other race in middle earth sung songs of their greatness but every book she had read on her kind told of monstrous creatures born for battle with no emotion or cares for anyone but themselves. Pacing backwards and forwards to calm herself she gazed up at the glowing sky. Under the same sky far away her people would be celebrating and telling tales of her bravery but her ears would never hear of them.

"Bravery is stupid" Eruanna reminded herself as she wandered down the candlelit halls. There she found a library and scanned the titles with very little interest. There were great books on history and valiant tales of knights and princesses. Then her eyes rested on a book smothered in cobwebs that seemed to beg reading. She brushed off the silk threads and opened the crumbled cover to the title page. 'Creatures of legend and myth' it read, it was a childish fantasy to read about creatures of old that never really existed or were gone from the world but it was an escape. She flicked through the pages; dragons took up the first few pages then strange mortal folk with fish tales and bears with wings.

Fascinated she read each word over and over, learning the names and the legend behind them. Then she turned another page and her heart froze and began to ice over. On the page there was a drawing of an almost vampiric figure, eyes of fire and feathered wings the colour of nightshade. Surrounding the ebony hair there were a collection of stars and from the lips crimson fell in torrents. The name of the creature was Naira. Her fingers traced the cursed name before she began to read.

'The naira were created by Morgoth as immortal beings to serve in his armies and challenge the elves. After a time they abandoned their master for a chance to live in a new land name Termoree gifted to them by Eru as a bribe. When these lands were attacked by their maker, they called out to Eru but Eru banished them to Middle earth where they became cruel and cold. To survive they suck the souls of others and drink the blood of their enemies. Many have the power to change their skin and have magical abilities. Trained from birth to kill they do not know pain or fear and care little about who they harm. Being nocturnal creatures they hunt in packs and often raid small settlements. Greedy and selfish…' Eruanna tore the page from book and it burst into flames in her palm.

"Lies" she spat and hurled the ashes into a nearby corner, "I am not fable." Laughter seemed to erupt from the books surrounding her.

"What are you if not what that book says? What are you if not a killer, what other talents do you have? Pray tell us of your noble conquests and acts of valour besides murdering innocent children in their beds!" It was as if every hero was scorning her and everything she stood for. She could think of very little she could do other than use a sword. Backing away from the books she fell backwards into the empty hall. No laughter could be heard or any other sound, across one wall a rat scurried but there was nothing else to see. Eruanna lay back on the cold floor breathing hard and closing her eyes.

"What am I doing here?" she asked herself. No answer could be found and she sat up before going in search of the cellars.

They had no one guarding the cellar as everyone was feasting. Eruanna crept down into the shabby dark and into a small room filled with barrels and bottles of all sizes. It looked like they had not been touched for some time as dust had settled on the floor and her prints were the only ones. She did not question it but presumed it to be a reserve cellar.

"I'll just pinch one" she murmured, picking up a weighty bottle of liquid and settling herself on a barrel to drink it. It was sweeter than she anticipated and she gulped it down before shakily picking up another. After another bottle she began to feel light-headed and she downed a fourth before dropping the bottle and watching it shatter on the ground. A giggle rose in her throat and she swigged a more bitter-tasting drink down before opening a barrel and helping herself to the rich contents. She raised her hand in front of her face and it blurred and duplicated. Staggering forward a few steps she saw a shadow flickering round the room. Glass sprayed across a wall and she staggered back grabbing a bottle and hurling it at the shape. The shadow moved closer and vanished. Pain suddenly filled her head and a blow across her skull sent her sprawling before her eyes darkened.

When she stirred she lay on a soft mattress, her head throbbed and her body felt numb. Something in the cellar had tried to kill her. Not daring to open her eyes fully she peered out of one slit between her eyelashes. The room seemed empty so she began to struggle to sit. Instantly two hands supported her and two familiar cool blue eyes stared down at her with disapproval. Legolas stood at the foot of the bed arms folded across his chest. It was Aragorn who helped her to sit and checked the cuts she had sustained. Eruanna tried desperately to read her husband's face but it was a mystery. She smiled meekly at him and he frowned at her before asking Aragorn some strange request in elvish. The man smiled faintly and answered slowly, planning every word before he uttered it. Then the elf sat beside her and began to study her face. Eruanna smiled uncomfortably and both of her companions debated in the foreign tongue what had happened. From what she picked up; both thought she had left with the intention to drink the cellar dry and had fallen over and hit her head. After a few moments more Aragorn departed. After a few minutes of science she could not take the cool gaze and she began to explain.

"Someone was trying to kill me." A flicker of amusement past over Legolas's face and he raised an eyebrow.

"Actually it wasn't a person." The frown returned and he took her hand.

"What was it then?" His eyes seemed to be dancing with mirth. She snatched her hands away and shifted away from him.

"I'm not joking. There was something down there and it tried to kill me" she snapped. The laughter in his eyes was gone and it was replaced with a deep sorrow.

"I was having a drink and then there was a shadow. I threw a bottle at it and it vanished the next thing I knew was a sharp pain in the back of my skull and I passed out. It looked like my sister..."

"There was nothing there when we found you" he answered simply. She was about to argue when her stomach began to betray her and she let over the edge of the bed and spewed up the wine from the night before.

"What was it you think you saw" Legolas asked once she had collected herself.

"A spirit of something, trapped between the world of the living and that of the realm of the dead. There are many people who had cause to kill me living and dead alike, my sister included, it is my fault she is dead."

"I thought they were just stories" he queried.

"According to a book my existence is a story" she muttered. His brow creased again with confusion and she explained the events that she could recall.

* * *

Mirkwood seemed a far better name for the forest then greenwood. Its branches were laced with webs and vines, its roots were blackened and decayed. The air stank of blood and sweat from the recent battles and there was a lingering odour of rot. Having left the others and turning towards the halls of Thranduil, Legolas had suggested they follow an old track and see what had become of the forest they had grown up in. Even he had not been prepared for the horrors that had befallen it. When she had visited the forest last the darkness had only just begun to spread. Now it seemed that it had reached every corner of the forest for miles around. She watched as her husband ran his fingers along each tree, listening to the songs they had and praying for their health. There was a grief in his eyes as he relinquished his touch and he would murmur his thanks to each ancient tree as they answered him. After a while they stopped and sat under the shade of the trees, the air still thick and clammy with the rain that had fallen earlier. She sipped at the water from her skin before glancing across at Legolas. He had his eyes closed and was listening intently for some noise or other. The sound of a skylark suddenly broke the stillness and she saw a smile from on his lips.

"The forest is healing" he sighed. Despite what Frodo had claimed about the woods being hallucinogenic she saw nothing usual. Sixty years had passed since Bilbo had walked the woods and much would have changed. Still the darkness that had plagued the forest intrigued her and the further north they traveled the less they saw of it. In Legolas she saw a visible change within him; he smiled often and the grim face he often wore disappeared as they entered the borders of the woodland realm. He began to sing and point out animals that he had not seen in the forest or he would climb trees and tell her tales that he learnt from them.

Her own mood however became darker. Dread began to ebb at her heart, Legolas sensed it when he asked her a question but she did not answer. Instead her eyes rested on what lay ahead of them. Large stone pillars and a door that was guarded by two sentinels. A clear cold river that gushed beneath a stone bridge. A hand worked its way into hers and she glanced up to see her husband studying the gate also. After a few moments he relinquished her hand with a short squeeze and stepped onto the track that wound up to the bridge. Eruanna followed, taking a deep breath before allowing him to lead her up to the gate. The two guards greeted him warmly and gave her uneasy glances.

"Send word to my father that I have arrived. Lady Eruanna will be staying with us for some time, inform him that she is here too" Legolas instructed and one of the guards bowed and hurried away.

It was how she had remembered it to be, winding stairs carved from wood and rock, lanterns hanging from high ceilings. The river running through the citadel bubbling below the walkways. They waited in a small chamber for the king and from it she watched other elves going about their lives below.

"Is it as you remember?" Legolas asked, kissing her neck and wrapping his arms around her hips.

"It is more… grand than I remember" she murmured kissing the sweet tasting mouth to hide her blush.

"It is bigger than I remember" he confided and she giggled before kissing his nose. A sudden cough made her jump and Legolas released her hurriedly.

"The king wishes to see you both now" the guard stated, frowning at Legolas before glaring at her.

Whatever stories anyone told of king Thranduil, they were far from the truth. He was the definition of a perfect elf in appearance at least. As a child Eruanna had little to do with him and had thought even less of him, as she had grown older she had succeeded in avoiding him to the point where she couldn't have remembered what he had looked like if someone had asked for a description. His manner however was cold. He radiated power and every movement he made was to make a point. It surprised her when the cold marble like king dropped all of these behaviours and hugged his son to him.

"Welcome home Legolas, your presence here has been missed by all" Thranduil said softly. The exchanged words that she could not understand before Thranduil turned to face her. Eruanna steeled herself for the ice gaze that he bestowed upon her and met his glare with defiance.

"When did our great kingdom allow the ruined and braggart race of naira through its doors? Tell me, what might be your name?" She felt sick, and her voice stuck in her throat as she tried hard to form the words. Legolas stepped forward with an air of innocence and put his arm around her waist before looking into his father’s eyes and saying:

**"Ada, this is Eruanna. This is my wife."**


End file.
